The Houthis are pushing for a gas-filled area in Marib, the last government stronghold in northern Yemen.
A “sound plan” for a nationwide ceasefire in Yemen has been ahead of Houthi’s presidency for “several days”, but the group appears to be prioritizing an armed attack to take Marib , U.S. special ambassador to Yemen, Timothy Lenderking. Friday.
“I will return immediately when the Houthis are willing to speak,” lenders told the Atlantic Council think tank after a visit to the region to revive efforts to end the current six-year conflict. widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
“The US and the DA – we urge the Houthis to respond,” he said. “If we can’t make progress now, the country will lead to more conflict and instability.”
Soldiers ride behind a watch truck at the funeral of Brigadier General Abdul-Ghani Shaalan, commander of the Special Security Forces in Marib who was killed in a recent fight with Houthi fighters in Marib, Yemen [File: Ali Owidha/Reuters]
A Saudi-led military coalition broke out in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-affiliated Houthi group ousted the country’s government from the capital Sanaa. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system.
“We now have a good plan for a nationwide ceasefire with elements that would immediately address Yemen’s difficult humanitarian situation,” Lenderking said. “That plan has been ahead of Houthi’s leadership for several days. “
The Houthis, however, have pushed towards a gas-filled area of Marib, aiming to take the last government stronghold in northern Yemen. The United Nations has warned that millions of civilians are at risk.
“Sadly, and very upsettingly for me, the Houthis seem to be prioritizing an armed campaign to take Marib… over the postponement of the war and bring relief to the Yemeni people,” said Lenderking.
He announced that the United States would restore humanitarian aid funding for northern Yemen, and said Washington would work with the governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia to find a way to deliver fuel to the Yemenis that need it. .
The United Nations describes the Yemen conflict as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
On Thursday, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council convened by the US that more than 88 million people in Yemen and three dozen other countries were suffering from “severe hunger ”At the end of 2020 due to conflict and instability.
Workers stack support at food circulation center supported by World Food Program in Sanaa, Yemen [File: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]
“Today, I have a simple message: if you don’t feed people, you feed conflict,” Guterres said.
“Conflict controls anger and hunger, and anger and famine lead conflict. When conflict and hunger strike in a country or region, they reinforce each other, ”he said. “They can’t be solved separately.”
Five years of conflict in Yemen have wiped out four million people and many have been left “facing the death penalty of widespread hunger stalking their country,” Guterres said. about half of children under the age of five – 2.3 million – will suffer from severe malnutrition in 2021. About 16 million people are against food insecurity. “
Some 80 percent of Yemenis need help, with 400,000 children under the age of five with severe malnutrition, according to DA data. For most of its food, the country is dependent on imports that have been severely disrupted over the years by all the warring parties.
People ‘s suffering has been exacerbated by the economic and financial downturn, and by the COVID-19 pandemic.