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Houthis Accused of Committing 1,230 Truce Violations on Various Fronts in Yemen

A Yemeni fighter on a battlefront. (AFP)
A Yemeni fighter on a battlefront. (AFP)
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Houthis Accused of Committing 1,230 Truce Violations on Various Fronts in Yemen

A Yemeni fighter on a battlefront. (AFP)
A Yemeni fighter on a battlefront. (AFP)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias have committed 1,230 violations of the two-month nationwide truce in Yemen that was declared by the United Nations earlier this month.

UN envoy Hans Grundberg was in Sanaa for talks with Houthi officials in an attempt to consolidate the truce and persuade them to joint peace consultations.

This marks the first time he visits the Houthi-held Yemeni capital since his appointment in September. The militias had refused to meet with him before the lifting of restrictions on fuel ships and reopening of Sanaa international airport.

Houthi media reported that Grundberg kicked of his visit by meeting with the foreign minister of the militias' illegitimate government, Hisham Sharaf, and the Houthi official in charge of the prisoner file, Abdulkader Mortada.

Even as the envoy attempted to persuade the militias to join peace talks, he was met with their same demands over the reopening of Sanaa airport, lifting all curbs on Hodeidah port and the payment of salaries in Houthi-held regions. The legitimate government believes these demands, if they are fulfilled, will help the Houthis prolong the war and smuggle Iranian weapons.

Meanwhile, Yemeni military spokesman Abdo Majali revealed that the Houthis have committed 1,230 violations of the truce since its announcement.

Speaking at a press briefing on field developments, he said the militias have committed the violations on all battlefronts in the Marib, Taiz, Hajjah, Dhale and Saada provinces.

He stressed that the national army was fully committed to the UN ceasefire and orders of the military and political leaderships, while the Houthis continue their escalations and breaches.

The violations ranged from the amassing of forces, artillery attacks on the military, the deployment of snipers and the flying of armed drone attacks.

Majali accused the Houthis of bringing in more reinforcements to battlefronts in southern Marib. He revealed that they have already sent over 40 military vehicles.

The Houthis also fired a ballistic missile in the province that left material damage on civilian property.

In Taiz, the military confirmed 342 violations, including the firing of mortar and artillery shells on residential areas adjacent to army bases, the deployment of snipers, and bringing in more reinforcements.

Majali added that the army returned fire against the Houthis when it came under attack.

Elsewhere, the Houthis committed 305 truce violations in Hajjah, 156 in Hodeidah, 100 in al-Jawf, 61 in Dhaleh and 40 in Saada.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.