Yemeni Forces Repel Several Saudi Attacks amid Truce Claims

Saudi-backed mercenaries on Monday morning attempted to infiltrate into Nati’ region in Bayda province several times but were pushed back by the Yemeni troops, Saree said, according to Yemen’s al-Masirah TV network.

He added that Saudi warplanes had also conducted at least 15 strikes against civilian areas in the provinces of Ma’rib, Jawf, and Bayda in the past hours.

The multiple land and aerial assaults come a few days after the Saudi-led coalition claimed it was halting military operations in Yemen in support of UN efforts to end the five-year war and avoid the outbreak of the coronavirus in war-wracked Yemen.

Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement, said in a post on his official Twitter page on Sunday that the two-week ceasefire declared by the coalition is aimed at misleading the world.

“The declared ceasefire is deceitful and meant to mislead the world public opinion. If there were a serious intention and sheer willpower towards peace, the UN Security Council should have passed a formal resolution to stop the absurd war on Yemen and lift the unjust siege; rather it sufficed to a worthless statement in order to appease the (Saudi-led) alliance,” he said.

The high-ranking official added, “The declared ceasefire is deceitful and meant to mislead the world public opinion. If there were a serious intention and sheer willpower towards peace, the UN Security Council should have passed a formal resolution to stop the absurd war on Yemen and lift the unjust siege; rather it sufficed to a worthless statement in order to appease the (Saudi-led) alliance”.

In a report released on Sunday, Yemen’s Legal Center for Rights and Development, an independent monitoring group, put the civilian death toll in the war-torn Arab country at 16,075.

The fatalities, it said, comprise 3,901 children and 2,462 women.

The rights body said the bombings have also wounded 41,476 civilians, including 4,220 children and 3,039 women.

Recounting the damage to Yemen’s infrastructure, the center said Saudi strikes have razed more than 428,000 houses, 953 mosques, 344 hospitals and medical centers, 914 schools, 41 media centers, 15 airports, 14 ports, 76 educational centers, 130 sports centers, and 219 ancient monuments.

Armed with American and British ammunition and European warplanes, among other Western-supported military hardware, the kingdom launched the campaign against Yemen in March 2015.