For the second consecutive time, the Iran-backed Houthi militias in Yemen obstructed on Monday a meeting between the Yemeni warring parties.
Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and head of United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) Abhijit Guha had scheduled the meeting at the frontline in Hodeidah city on October 15.
West coast liberation operations spokesman Waddah al-Dbish told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government was headed to the meeting venue but its route was blocked by tanks and armed Houthi-trained teenagers.
“They blocked the road and said that the Houthi delegation at the RCC gave restrictions not to allow the government team in,” Dbish revealed.
He said the government team had already informed the RCC of the militias’ “bad intentions.”
“We hold them responsible for any aggressive act against our forces, a move which would annul the Sweden agreement and renew fighting,” Dbish warned.
He said the team also asked the Joint Operations Center to issue a notice showing that the Houthis had foiled a meeting between the field liaison officers.
Dbish revealed that head of the Houthi team had already announced that no meeting should be held before a ceasefire is ensured in the port city.
The ceasefire has never been respected since its announcement in December 2018.
However, the UN mission to support the Hodeidah agreement (UNMHA) had said there is a remarkable decrease in the level of fighting between the two parties after the deal was struck in Stockholm last year.
Monday’s development demonstrates that the Houthis “will not change their behavior and, as usual, they are violating the Sweden deal, returning efforts to square one and beating the drums of war,” Dbish remarked.
