US urges Yemen’s rebels to halt attack on central province

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US urges Yemen’s rebels to halt attack on central province

2021-02-17 01:18 Last Updated At：01:30

The U.S. on Tuesday urged Yemen’s rebels to halt their attack on the central province of Marib, warning against exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the Arab world's poorest country.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement the Houthis’ attack on Marib, which is held by the rival internationally recognized government, was “the action of a group not committed to peace or to ending the war afflicting the people of Yemen."

Yemen’s war started in 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north. A Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition intervened months later to dislodge the rebels and restore the internationally recognized government. The conflict has killed some 130,000 people and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

The rebels earlier this month renewed their attacks on the oil-rich province, an anti-Houthi stronghold. However, they have faced stiff resistance and have not made progress amid heavy air bombing from the Saudi-led coalition.

The latest bout of violence killed dozens of fighters, mostly among the Houthis, and sparked fears of a new humanitarian crisis.

Marib province, the location of the ancient Great Marib Dam, has served as a sort of haven for around 1 million Yemenis who have fled Houthi offensives since the start of the war, the State Department said, citing U.N. figures.

“An assault on the city would put two million civilians at risk, with hundreds of thousands potentially forced to flee — with unimaginable humanitarian consequences,” U.N. Humanitarian Chief Mark Lowcock tweeted Monday.

Price, the state department spokesperson, also called on the Houthis to stop their cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The rebels have recently intensified attacks using explosive-laden drones and missiles on the kingdom in an apparent attempt to pressure the Saudi-led coalition to stop its air campaign on the rebels in Marib and elsewhere in Yemen.

Price also urged the Houthis to engage “constructively” and “seriously” in efforts by envoys from the U.N. and the U.S. that aim to find a settlement to the conflict.

“The time to end this conflict is now. There is no military solution,” he said.

In an apparent response to the U.S. statement, Mohamed Abdel Salam, a Houthi spokesman, called for the Saudi-led coalition to end its campaign and lift the blockade on Houthi-held areas.

After that, “we are ready to engage positively,” he said.

EU military officer says a frigate has destroyed a drone launched from Yemen's Houthi-held areas

2024-04-25 18:49 Last Updated At：19:01

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU miliary mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on Thursday morning.

Austrian Gen. Robert Brieger, who is chair of the EU’s military committee, said that it would be crucial for the bloc to “conserve resources” over the long haul because the threat posed by Houthi attacks “will not disappear” due to its connection to the Israel-Hamas war.

“The task given to the military is simply to protect merchant ships and to show the public that the European Union is not willing to accept a terrorist organization will interrupt the freedom of movement at sea,” Brieger said.

Brieger said that he’s asking EU members to provide the necessary resources to the EU mission dubbed Aspides — Greek for “shields.”

He said that it’s the first time that the EU has launched a naval operation in a hostile environment that's twice the size of the 27-nation bloc, calling it a “litmus test” that the bloc will pass successfully.

The commander of an EU naval mission in the Red Sea, Greek Rear Adm. Vasilios Gryparis, wants to significantly increase its size to better defend against possible attacks by Houthi rebels based in Yemen. Nineteen of the 27 EU nations are involved in the mission, but only four frigates are patrolling an area twice the size of the bloc.

The EU mission was established in February to defend civilian vessels and doesn't take part in any military strikes. The southern part of the Red Sea is deemed a high-risk zone.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which control much of Yemen’s north and west, launched a campaign of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in November. They have also fired missiles toward Israel, although those have largely fallen short or been intercepted.

The attacks have hit maritime trade to Egypt and Europe, with only around half the usual number of ships moving through the area. It’s added up to two weeks of transit time for vessels that want to avoid the Suez Canal, hiking transport costs and shipping insurance.

The rebels have described their campaign as an effort to pressure Israel to end the wear. The ships targeted by the Houthis, however, largely have had little or no connection to Israel, the U.S. or other nations involved in the war.

Their campaign has continued despite more than two months of U.S.-led retaliatory airstrikes.