UN: HODEIDAH CEASEFIRE TO GO INTO EFFECT ON TUESDAY
Implementation of deal agreed last week delayed as Houthis attack government forces
A UN-brokered ceasefire for Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate will go into effect at midnight on Tuesday, a UN source told The National, after clashes broke out between rebels and the government in the area overnight on Saturday.
The source said the ceasefire deal was originally supposed to go into effect as soon as it was announced on Thursday but said that implementation will take more time.
A Yemeni official confirmed that the ceasefire will go into effect on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, UN chief Antonio Guterres said yesterday that “much worse” lay in store for Yemen in 2019 unless its warring parties struck a peace deal and headed off the impending humanitarian crisis.
The delay in implementing the cessation of hostilities came amid renewed clashes on the outskirts of Hodeidah city yesterday – the third round of fighting between warring parties since the ceasefire deal was first announced.
Houthi rebels yesterday launched an attack on positions controlled by the pro-government Al Amalikah brigades in Al Tahita district, south of Hodeidah, a member of Al Amalikhah force told The
National. He said clashes lasted for more than three hours before pro-government fighters pushed rebels back.
A commander with the pro-government forces, Mohamed Al Houmaidi, told The
National that Houthi rebels were killed in clashes near Al Hulaika market but did not specify how many. He also said that pro-government forces foiled an attempt by rebels to break a siege on the Al Durayhimi district, south of Hodeidah. The district, one of the gateways to Hodeidah, was cleared of rebels in August. He said that clashes first started on Friday night, a day after the Hodeidah deal was announced.
A pro-government military source told AFP that at least 29 fighters, including 22 Houthi rebels, were killed on Saturday
night in clashes and air strikes in Hodeidah province.
A spokesman for pro-government forces in Hodeidah also posted a video on Twitter purporting to show Houthis planting explosive devices on the outskirts of the 7 July neighbourhood in Hodeidah city on Saturday.
The deputy governor of Hodeidah, Walid Al Qudaimi, said on Saturday that Houthi rebels were carrying out attacks on pro-government positions in the districts of Al Durayhimi, Al Heiss and Al Tahita to undermine the ceasefire agreement.
In comments to Al Bayan newspaper, the deputy governor accused rebels of continuing to kidnap civilians suspected of co-operating with the government.
He said Houthis kidnapped a lawyer and two of his security guards in 7 July, despite a prisoner exchange agreement brokered between the two sides in Sweden last week. In comments to The National, Mr Al Qudaimi accused rebels of looting vehicles and goods from the port of Hodeidah and transferring them to the rebel-held cities of Sanaa and Saada.
The deputy governor said Houthis removed 1,500 cars and 4,000 containers of goods from the port in the past couple of days.
He also accused rebels of stealing official documents from state institutions in Hodeidah, including rosters with the names of public employees.
The rebels have also issued orders to their fighters to disguise themselves in the uniforms of government security forces in an attempt to feign compliance with the terms of the ceasefire deal, Mr Al Qudaimi said.
The Hodeidah ceasefire was announced on Thursday at the end of a week of negotiations in Sweden.
The agreement called for an immediate end to hostilities across Hodeidah governorate.