Yemen's Legitimate Govt. Denies Holding Talks With Houthis over Calm in Marib, Jawf

Pro-government soldiers stand at their position overlooking the Marib Dam near the northern city of Marib, Yemen November 3, 2017. REUTERS/Ali Owidha
Pro-government soldiers stand at their position overlooking the Marib Dam near the northern city of Marib, Yemen November 3, 2017. REUTERS/Ali Owidha
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Yemen's Legitimate Govt. Denies Holding Talks With Houthis over Calm in Marib, Jawf

Pro-government soldiers stand at their position overlooking the Marib Dam near the northern city of Marib, Yemen November 3, 2017. REUTERS/Ali Owidha
Pro-government soldiers stand at their position overlooking the Marib Dam near the northern city of Marib, Yemen November 3, 2017. REUTERS/Ali Owidha

The Yemeni legitimate government denied reports that there were ongoing talks between local authorities in Jawf and Marib and the Houthi militias over calm.

The government said that these claims only seek to cause a gap among national components.

Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani also denied the rumors promoted by Houthi media regarding the talks between the governor of Marib or any other liberated provinces and Iran’s mercenaries.

In recent days, some Houthi leaders promoted through media that there are some understandings between the group and the leaderships of local authorities in Marib and Jawf to halt attacks by the militias against the two provinces. This falls under Houthis' quest to present themselves as the victorious in battles against government forces in Marib, Jawf, and Nahm.

Eryani tweeted that the Houthis have so far killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of Yemenis, not to mention other thousands resting in detention camps. He affirmed that the government delegation is entitled to hold talks with Houthis for the sake of reaching a political solution for the crisis based on the three references.

The minister demanded that the media sticks to credibility and extracting information from authentic sources, without falling a victim for rumors in concurrence with the victories achieved by the Yemeni National Army backed by the Saudi-led Arab coalition.

The insurgents always seek to exaggerate the volume of their offensives against government forces and spreading rumors about talks between the group and pro-legitimacy parties. Their aim is to shake confidence among anti-coup forces.



RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
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RSF Shelling On Camp Kills 8 in Sudan's Darfur, Say Rescuers

A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig
A view of a street in the city of Omdurman damaged in the year-long civil war in Sudan, April 7, 2024. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig

Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled a displacement camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, killing eight civilians and injuring others, a local rescue group said.

The bombardment hit Abu Shouk camp, which hosts tens of thousands of displaced people on the outskirts of El Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur.

El-Fasher remains the last major stronghold in Sudan's western Darfur region not under the control of the RSF, who have been at war with the regular army since April 2023, AFP reported.

"The Abu Shouk camp witnessed heavy artillery bombardment by the RSF... killing eight people," the camp's Emergency Response Room said in a statement.

In recent weeks, El-Fasher, which has been under RSF siege since last year, has been locked in intense fighting between warring sides in a region also gripped by famine.

Thursday's offensive comes just days after a series of attacks by the RSF targeted another battleground region of Sudan.

More than 450 people, including 35 children, were killed in several villages of North Kordofan, southwest of the capital Khartoum, according to a statement released this week by the UN's children agency.

"No child should ever experience such horrors," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "Violence against children is unconscionable and must end now."

On Sunday, the RSF claimed to have killed more than 470 army personnel near the town of El-Obeid, also in North Kordofan, in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Independent verification of casualties in Sudan remains difficult due to restricted access to its conflict zones.

Now in its third year, the conflict has killed tens of thousands and forced millions to flee, creating what the United Nations describes as the world's largest displacement crisis.

In December last year, famine was officially declared in three displacement camps near El-Fasher, namely Zamzam, Abu Shouk and Al-Salam, according to the UN.

Since the Sudanese army regained control of the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has shifted its operations westward, focusing on Darfur and Kordofan in a bid to consolidate territorial gains.

In April, RSF fighters seized the Zamzam displacement camp, located near Abu Shouk.

The assault forced nearly 400,000 people to flee, according to UN figures, effectively emptying one of the country's largest camps for the displaced.

Sudanese analyst Mohaned el-Nour told AFP the RSF aims to redefine its role in the conflict.

"Their goal is no longer to be seen as a militia, but as an alternative government in western Sudan, undermining the legitimacy of the authorities in Port Sudan."

He added that the recent surge in violence in North Kordofan was likely intended to divert the army's attention from El Fasher, where the military is trying "at all costs" to maintain.