The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights denounced Friday that Yemen is once again the scene of hostilities since the end of the truce between the Yemeni government and the Huthi insurgency that have left fatalities amid shelling and sniper fire, less than a month after the end of the ceasefire pact.
The High Commissioner’s spokesman, Jeremy Laurence, specifically referred to three bombings in the last week of October against Yemeni government-controlled areas that claimed the lives of a man and a minor, and injured four other minors, two of whom lost one of their legs.
The UN office has also verified three incidents provoked by Huthi insurgent snipers that have left at least four injured, including two minors.
Finally, the spokesman recalled the drone attack launched by the rebels — who shortly after acknowledged responsibility for the operation — against the oil port of Dabba, in the governorate of Hadramut, which «left civilians exposed to serious and unjustified danger». The Yemeni government claimed that the attack was ultimately unsuccessful thanks to the intervention of its air defense system.
Laurence reiterated the words of the High Commissioner, Volker Turk, who called on the Yemeni government and the insurgents to agree to an extension of the truce with a view to opening negotiations to put an end once and for all to a conflict that has dragged one of the world’s poorest countries for seven years into the worst humanitarian catastrophe currently occurring on the planet.
The war in Yemen pits the internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led international coalition against the Iranian-backed Huthis. The Huthis control not only the capital, Sana’a, but also areas in the north and west of the country.
The spokesman acknowledged that the mere initial signing of the agreement on March 2 has had a beneficial impact on the population despite its termination. The casualties verified after the resumption of hostilities are far from the usual levels before the signing of the pact, and fuel has resumed flowing through the strategic port of Hodeida.
However, the critical situation persists in the southwestern city of Taiz, the country’s third largest, whose 600,000 inhabitants have been surrounded for years by rebels in what the spokesman described as a «full-fledged siege». Negotiations between the two sides during the truce to end this crisis, Laurence recalled, were unsuccessful.
As usual, the spokesman reminded all parties to the conflict that «deliberate attacks against civilians constitute a war crime» and called on the relevant authorities to investigate such incidents and bring those responsible to justice.
