Houthis announce a truce, Saudi warplanes hit Sana'a
Saudi planes strike the capital and the coastal town of Makram in response to attacks against Saudi oil facilities over the weekend. The Houthi rebel movement announces a three-day ceasefire, hoping for a resumption of talks. The UN wants to stop the violence for Ramadan.
Sana’a (AsiaNews) – Warplanes from the Saudi-led Arab coalition conducted air strikes against Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, which is held by the mostly Shia Houthi rebel group.
Some of the city’s residential areas were hit. Planes also carried out operations against other regions of the country.
The raids took place yesterday a few hours after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels announced a three-day unilateral truce.
The UN condemned the escalation of violence in a brutal war that is now in its eighth year.
According to the al-Masirah TV network, Sunday’s attacks resulted in at least six civilian wounded, including three children.
In the early hours of yesterday, Saudi fighter planes hit a medical centre in the coastal town of Makram on Kamaran Island.
A few hours later, bombs fell on Jarban and Dhabwa, two neighbourhoods in Sana'a’s Sanhan district. There are no official reports regarding casualties or wounded.
No one was reportedly killed in a strike against the Al-Nahdin neighbourhood, in al-Sabeen district, also in Sana'a.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the sudden surge in violence that left eight people dead, including five children and two women.
The UN chief renewed his call for peace talks, or at least a lasting ceasefire for Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer.
The air strikes came just hours after the chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, Mahdi al-Mashat Mashat, announced a three-day ceasefire, suspending missile attacks and other military action against Saudi Arabia.
“This is a sincere invitation and practical steps to rebuild trust and take all the sides from the arena of talks to the arena of acts,” Mashat said.
“And we are ready to turn this declaration into a final and permanent commitment in the event that Saudi Arabia commits to ending the siege and stopping its raids on Yemen once and for all,” he added.
There was no immediate response from Saudi Arabia.
The truce by the Houthis follows an attack with missiles and drones against an oil storage facility in Saudi Arabia, not far from the track were the Saudi Formula 1 Grand Prix took place over the weekend.
Dubbed Operation Breaking the Siege III, Houthis carried out attacks against the Saudi regions of Jizan and Najran, as well as the Aramco facility in the port city of Jeddah.
Despite the truce, the Houthis said that they would not hesitate to expand military operations until the Saudi aggression ends and the blockade is completely lifted.
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