Thousands of men demonstrated on Friday March 26 in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, held by the Houthi rebels, to mark the sixth anniversary of Saudi Arabia's military intervention in the country, against a backdrop of escalation and death. diplomatic efforts.

On March 26, 2015, a military coalition led by Riyadh launched Operation "Decisive Storm" in Yemen to support the government against the advance in the country of the Houthis, supported by Riyadh's great rival: Iran. 

A few months earlier, in September 2014, the rebels seized Sanaa.

Since then, they have taken away most of the north from loyalist forces, with the exception of the oil-rich region of Marib, which they have been trying to wrest since February in heavy fighting.

"Six years of war have shown their failure," Deif Allah al-Chammi, a senior Houthi official surrounded by thousands of demonstrators, told AFP, waving posters about the "victory of Islam" and chanting slogans against Saudi Arabia, the United States or even Israel.

"Act of sabotage"

The anniversary of the Saudi intervention in Yemen coincided with further rebel attacks on the neighboring kingdom.

On Thursday evening, a projectile launched at an oil distribution terminal in Jizan, near the border, caused a fire in one of its tanks.

The United States, which has ceased its support for the intervention of its Saudi ally while claiming to be at its side in the face of rebel attacks, denounced "a clear provocation aimed at prolonging the conflict", and accused the Houthis of compromising the peace efforts.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense told him of an "act of sabotage" targeting "civilians" and which "confirms the rejection by the Houthi terrorist militia of the kingdom's initiative to end the Yemeni crisis."

The attack, claimed by the Houthis, indeed comes days after the rebels rejected a proposal by Riyadh for a "comprehensive ceasefire" that included the reopening of the Sana'a international airport, demanded by the Houthis. Houthis, and the resumption of political negotiations under the auspices of the UN.

The rebels demand, before any resumption of the political process, the complete lifting of the air and maritime blockade, imposed by Saudi Arabia to prevent, according to it, the imports of arms from Iran.

"If they want peace, we do not need an initiative, but that they stop their aggression and lift the blockade on the Yemeni people," insisted Houthi official seif Allah al-Chami.

The Saudi initiative is part of a context of international pressure, the United States and the UN in the lead, to achieve a rapid political resolution of the conflict, due to the humanitarian disaster it has engendered.

On Friday, the UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, met with a high representative of the Houthis, Mohammed Abdelsalam, in the neighboring Sultanate of Oman. 

"Six years of hunger"

"They discussed the urgency of agreeing on the opening of the Sana'a airport, the easing of restrictions on the ports of Hodeidah, the establishment of a national ceasefire and the resumption of political dialogue within the framework of the United Nations, "said the UN envoy's office on Twitter.

Hodeida, a city in the southwest of the country in rebel hands, is a crucial crossing point for the delivery of humanitarian aid on which two-thirds of the population depend.

In six years, the conflict in Yemen has claimed tens of thousands of lives, according to international NGOs, as well as millions of displaced people living in makeshift camps constantly threatened by epidemics and continued fighting.

"Six years of hunger, displacement, destruction, misery and lost lives. Yemen desperately needs peace and the time has come for all to act," the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Twitter. (Ocha) of the UN with the hashtag #YemenCantWait (Yemen can't wait).

While Yemenis already suffer from hunger, the threat of large-scale famine is becoming increasingly real due to escalating violence and lack of funding for international aid.

With AFP

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