Fresh fighting shatters peace efforts

ADEN, Yemen — A fresh wave of fighting erupted between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels in Yemen’s western port city of Hodeidah just a few hours after the departure of the United Nations special envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths.

Both warring parties ignored the UN calls aimed at de-escalating the situation and engaged in armed confrontations on the ground amid heavy exchange of artillery shelling, raising questions about the fate of ongoing peace efforts.

Although both sides had declared their willingness to halt the fighting and head to participate in the upcoming UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden, sporadic fighting and the exchange of gunfire continued.

An army commander said that the government forces clashed with Houthi rebels in the areas surrounding the Red Sea city, but no military progress was made.

“Houthis positioned inside the citizens’ farms keep targeting our sites with artillery shells and some of our soldiers were injured as a result of the bombardment,” the commander said on condition of anonymity.

He said that the government forces responded and shelled the Houthi-controlled sites with artillery, sparking confrontations.

An anonymous source in the government’s media center said that several shells fired by Houthis landed on residential buildings in Hodeidah’s neighborhood of Mandher, causing casualties.

The resumption of fighting raised questions about the result of the United Nations peace efforts.

On Friday, Griffiths, accompanied by the World Food Program Chief Stephen Anderson and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande, visited Hodeidah.

During his visit, the UN envoy negotiated with the Houthi leadership about a supervisory role in the city.

“We have agreed that the UN should now pursue actively and urgently detailed negotiations for a leading UN role in the port and more broadly … such a role will preserve the essential humanitarian pipeline that starts here and serves the people of Yemen,” Griffiths said.

Meanwhile, at least four people were killed on Sunday when a Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit a fuel station in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah, a medic and residents said.

Five others were wounded in the air attack, which struck the station at the entrance to a popular market in the Mastaba district earlier the morning.