Al Houthis target hospital with mortars
HODEIDA MARKET ALSO ATTACKED AS UN ENVOY PLANS GENEVA TALKS NEXT MONTH
Coalition denies carrying out any attacks in Hodeida as UN envoy invites warring parties next month for talks aimed at ending the conflict, saying the pace of fighting has increased
Colonel Turki Al Malki, spokesman for the Arab Coalition in Yemen, yesterday accused Al Houthi militias of carrying out mortar attacks on Al Thawra Hospital and the fish market in Hodeida, while denying that the coalition carried out any attacks.
“The Arab coalition did not conduct any operations in Hodeida today,” he said. “The coalition follows a strict and transparent approach based on international law. We will investigate any allegations, and if there is any responsibility on our part, we will be transparent.”
Al Malki stressed that the coalition’s operations will continue until the liberation of Hodeida and its port. “The strategic goal of the coalition’s operations is to reinstate legitimacy in Yemen,” he said in conclusion.
On Twitter, Dr Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, tweeted: “The Coalition’s investigation, carried out with western allies, into [the] incident in Hodeida found clear evidence that the damage was caused by mortar shells fired from [Al] Houthi territory. Zero coalition operations yesterday involved targets close to the hospital.”
These attacks came in the wake of the UN envoy for Yemen on Thursday inviting the warring parties to talks in September aimed at ending the three-year conflict, saying the pace of fighting has increased and “the Red Sea is now a theatre of war”.
Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that military experts say that Hodeida “has become the centre of gravity of the war” — and avoiding a battle for the port and the city “has a better chance of being resolved within a comprehensive political settlement”.
He said that after consulting the internationally-recognised government and Al Houthis, he plans to invite them for consultations in Geneva on September 6, including to discuss a framework for peace negotiations.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley backed Griffiths’ efforts to bring both sides together in Geneva, saying Hodeida “is critical for the survival of the Yemeni people,” she said. “There simply is no alternative when it comes to getting aid and imports of food and fuel into the country.”
Britain’s UN Ambassador Karen Pierce, the current council president, said after the meeting that “there was very strong support” for Griffiths and “we’re united in his efforts to get the parties to Geneva”.
On a positive note, Griffiths said he was “greatly encouraged by the common desire of the parties to have prisoners of war released,” adding, “I want to see this moving forward before we meet in Geneva.”
A Saudi-led coalition allied with the government has been at war with Al Houthis since 2015. More than 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen’s civil war, which has displaced two million people and helped spawn a cholera epidemic.
The conflict has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with more than 22 million people — 75 per cent of the population — needing humanitarian aid, including 8.4 million who don’t know where their next meal will come from, according to the UN.