73 Al Houthis killed in Hodeida battles

Yemen Vice-President seeks international pressure on intransigent militia

Clashes and air strikes have left 84 people dead around Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeida since the collapse of UN-brokered peace talks, hospital sources said yesterday.

The sources in Hodeida province, controlled by the Iran-backed Al Houthi militia, said 11 soldiers and 73 militiamen had been killed since the talks were abandoned on Saturday. Dozens of militiamen and at least 17 soldiers had been wounded.

Attempted peace talks between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and Al Houthis collapsed yesterday, sparking fears of an escalation in the Yemen conflict. Al Houthis refused to leave Yemen for Geneva, alleging the UN had not met their demands - including a plane to transport their wounded to Oman and a guarantee their delegation would be allowed to return to the capital Sana’a.

The Geneva talks were abandoned on Saturday and fresh fighting broke out on the ground. Yemeni Vice-President Ali Mohsen Al Ahmar has urged international pressure on Al Houthis. Yemen’s government accused UN envoy Martin Griffiths of defending Al Houthis. Foreign Minister Khalid Al Yamani criticised Griffiths for “appeasing” the militia by refusing to lay blame for the failure of the talks squarely on their shoulders.

Griffiths is UN’s third Yemen envoy since 2014, when Al Houthis carried out a coup. He said Saturday he would travel to Sana’a and Muscat in the coming days to lay the groundwork for future talks, but hinted he might initially engage in separate discussions with the two sides.