Saudi coalition ends short halt to Yemen raids

Heavy clashes reported in southwestern city; Iran-backed militants request U.N. talks

MUKALLA, Yemen — Warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition conducted airstrikes Wednesday in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz, hours after Saudi officials had announced they were ending a nearly monthlong military operation against a rebel group in order to focus on a “political process.”

The warplanes bombed Houthi positions during heavy clashes in Taiz, according to a local official in the city. The new airstrikes, combined with reports of continued fighting elsewhere, including the southern port city of Aden, dampened hopes that the Saudi announcement would quickly result in a broader cease-fire.

The Houthis issued a statement declaring that they were ready “to resume political dialogue” under U.N. auspices but only after “a complete end to the aggression against Yemen and the lifting of the blockade.” In addition to the bombing, the

Saudis have enforced an air and sea embargo that has starved Yemen of food, fuel and medicine, and helped cause an escalating humanitarian crisis.

Saudi officials said Tuesday that they were ending an aerial operation, named Decisive Storm, because it had achieved its objectives, including destroying heavy weapons and missiles belonging to Yemeni troops allied with the Houthis. They had faced intensifying international calls to stop airstrikes that were killing a growing number of civilians.

But one of the principal Saudi goals remained unfulfilled: the return to power of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who was ousted by the Houthis and driven into exile in Saudi Arabia. On Tuesday, the Saudis had said they retained the right to “counter any military moves by the Houthis or their allies,” which many interpreted as a sign they intended to continue their military operation using other means.

It was unclear whether the strikes represented a resumption of the original operation under a different name — the Saudis are now calling it “Renewal of Hope” — but there was little evidence of change in the nature of the combat Wednesday.

In several areas of Taiz, fierce clashes erupted between the Houthis and their allies, mostly militias allied with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and militiamen loyal to Mr. Hadi, according to Mohamed al-Haj, a member of the local council. The Houthi forces tried to advance on the base of a military brigade loyal to Hadi.

The warplanes struck the Houthis in the morning. “There are many deaths on both sides,” Mr. Haj said.

In Aden, where weeks of urban warfare have destroyed neighborhoods and killed hundreds of people, there were exchanges of tank fire between the Houthis and their adversaries, mainly local fighters who favor an independent southern state, residents said.

“The Houthis are still bombing and still sniping people,” said one local fighter. “They have not started moving away from Aden.”

Hundreds of Saudi airstrikes have destroyed military installations around the country — including those belonging to counterterrorism troops trained by the United States — and, frequently, killed or injured Yemeni civilians.

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in more than three weeks of fighting since the bombing campaign began, while more than 150,000 have been displaced, according to the United Nations. Many who have fled the violence have ended up in the East African country of Djibouti, a short boat trip across a narrow waterway separating it from Yemen.

International humanitarian organizations operating in Yemen have increasingly been caught up in the strikes. Earlier this week, Oxfam, the relief organization, said the Saudi-led coalition had bombed one of its storage facilities in northern Yemen, a warehouse that “served no military purpose,” the group said.

Obama administration officials said they had privately applied pressure on the Saudis to end the bombing campaign, which the United States had publicly backed and provided with logistical and intelligence support.