UN calls for new talks on Yemen’s Hodeidah as front lines change | United Nations News

The Houthis fighters advanced to key positions in the strategic port city after withdrawing pro-government forces.

A UN monitoring mission has called on Yemeni war-torn parties to hold new talks on Hodeidah because the Saudi-led coalition was attacking areas south of the port city, where Houthi fighters advanced after coalition forces withdrew.

The call came on Monday, a day after the airstrikes began. By the end of 2018, the Saudi-backed government and the Houthis had agreed to a UN-sponsored treaty in Hodeidah and troops that had never been implemented to readjust the two sides.

A general spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition Turki al-Malki, in his first clarification on the sudden withdrawal from the Hodeidah area, said he had ordered the reorganization to support other fronts and in line with the coalition’s “future plans”.

The UN mission overseeing the Hodeidah agreement, the UNMHA and the participating Yemeni government team said they had no prior warning, and have criticized the withdrawal of some Yemeni coalition units, including fighters on the Red Sea coast.

The UNMHA said on Monday that the departure of Yemeni joint forces from the city of Hodeidah, al-Durayhimi, Bayt al Faqih and parts of al-Tahita and then Houthi’s takeover was a “major change” in the front lines that ensured discussions between the parties.

UN_Hudaydah’s Tweets

The coalition had earlier said it had carried out 11 airstrikes “outside the areas covered by the Stockholm Treaty”.

Houthi fighters clashed with Yemeni coalition forces on Monday in the Hays district, south of the city of Hodeidah, two military sources told Reuters news agency after clashes in Al Faza on Sunday.

Thousands displaced

The UN said the first line change had displaced thousands of people.

“About 700 families (about 4,900 people) were relocated” from Khokhara, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Hodeidah, while “another 184 families (about 1,300 people) were relocated further south” to the Mokha village on the Red Sea coast. , The UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA) said, citing sources in the Yemeni government.

“No relocation has been reported in areas that were under the control of de facto authorities,” he said on Sunday, referring to the Houthis.

Citing aid partners on the ground, he said a 300-tent site has been set up for displaced people in Khokha district, as authorities were looking for another site to deal with the arrival.

But the UN also said Houthi’s progress could lead to “improved civilian movement” on the roads connecting Hodeidah and Sanaa provinces and the city of Hodeidah with other districts.

It was unclear whether Hodeidah’s retreat was linked to what the coalition described as a reshuffle in the south, where sources said the Saudi army had left a main base in Aden, the seat of the caretaker government.

Yemen has been immersed in violence since the Houthis removed the internationally recognized government from the capital Sanaa in late 2014. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in the conflict in March 2015 with the aim of restoring the government.

Efforts by the UN and the US across the nation to halt the ceasefire have been halted, with the Houthis urging the coalition to first lift the blockade of their areas, while Riyadh wants a simultaneous agreement.