The Saudi-Emirati alliance carried out new raids on several areas in Yemen as part of a mutual escalation with the Houthi groups, while the Houthi leadership confirmed that they had negotiated with Saudi Arabia to stop the war that has been going on for years.

The Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah channel confirmed that the coalition forces carried out three raids yesterday evening in the vicinity of Sanaa airport.

For its part, Anatolia news agency quoted a military source as saying that coalition aircraft bombed the Daylami base near Sanaa airport, while witnesses reported that columns of smoke rose from the target site.

Before that, local sources in Yemen reported that the Saudi-Emirati coalition launched air strikes yesterday on the sites of the Houthi group in Sana'a, Saada and Amran.

In the past few days, the coalition launched dozens of raids on presumed Houthi positions in the context of a new military escalation, and one of the strikes killed 13 civilians, including four children, in the Shada district of Saada governorate (north of Yemen), and the United Nations condemned this raid and described it as horrific and unjustified, While spokesperson for the coalition, Turki al-Maliki, spoke about an investigation in this regard.

In exchange for the coalition raids, which come after a unilateral truce declared by Riyadh and remained a "dead letter", the Houthis launched with drones and ballistic missiles attacks on Saudi targets near the border, saying that among them are the airplanes, armories and sensitive military targets in the city of Khamisit Mushayt, Saudi Arabia .

Halting the war
In the midst of the current escalation, Houthi political bureau member Muhammad al-Bakhiti said that negotiations took place between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia over the Yemen war, and that Riyadh stipulated that it not be announced.

Al-Bakhiti added in an interview with Al-Jazeera on the "Beyond the News" program that the Houthis agreed to this in the interest of peace, saying that stopping the war and achieving peace became a common interest for all.

Houthi officials and Saudi sources had previously spoken of contacts between the two parties to stop the war, but these contacts have not yet led to an agreement.

Commenting on the intensification of the Saudi-Emirati alliance's air strikes recently, a Houthi spokesman said that, in light of the coalition's insistence on continuing what he described as crimes and siege, the Yemeni people will go ahead in supporting the army and people's committees until they deter the aggressors and push them to stop their aggression and siege.

Marib and Socotra in the
field, Yemeni local and military sources said that battles broke out between the National Army forces and the Houthis in the "Majzar" area northwest of the Marib Governorate, located to the east of the capital, Sanaa.

She added that the Houthis launched a major attack two days ago on army sites and were able to control the valley and the hospital "Al-Jafra", from which large parts of it were destroyed.

The sources indicated that the army forces retreated several kilometers yesterday from their previous positions.

And on the island of Socotra, about 350 km south of the coast of Aden, local sources said that clashes took place yesterday between Yemeni government forces and gunmen affiliated with the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, wounding one soldier and two gunmen.

The sources added that gunmen clashed with members of the government military police as they were returning from Hadibu, the administrative center of Socotra Island.

The sources said that the transitional gunmen brought in military reinforcements, and that armored vehicles left the headquarters of the brigade's first naval infantry, which is controlled by officers and soldiers, and declared their loyalty to the transitional council.

The new confrontations in Socotra come amid accusations of the UAE seeking to extend its control over this province, as it comes after tensions in Al-Mahra Governorate after local officials accused the Saudi forces of obstructing work at the road freight port with the Sultanate of Oman.