Iran-backed Houthi militias carried out attacks in Hodeidah ahead of the arrival of the newly appointed head of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), Lieutenant General Abhijit Guha, in the Yemeni province.
Yemeni military sources said that joint forces repelled the Houthi attacks.
Guha, who is Indian, was said to be on his way to Hodeidah after his arrival in the capital Sanaa.
Earlier this week, he met in Riyadh with top Yemeni government officials from the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir.
Houthi official sources claimed that Guha met in Sanaa on Wednesday with the insurgents’ representatives in the RCC.
They quoted Guha as saying that the Houthi officials expressed willingness to cooperate with him top back the Hodeidah agreement, which was signed between the legitimacy and the militias in Stockholm last year, and to assist him in his task.
Meanwhile, Yemeni Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdullah al-Hadrami said in Riyadh on Wednesday that the legitimate government holds onto the three terms of reference and backs UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths’ mission.
He stressed that any new talks with the Houthis would encourage the militias to ignore future agreements in a repeat of their behavior in evading the implementation of deals.
The minister said that the government is exerting strong efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the Yemeni crisis but stressed that comprehensive peace is necessary to avoid any loopholes.
