Houthi Escalation in Taiz, Marib Undermines Peace Efforts, Truce

A general view of Taiz city that has been besieged by the Houthis for eight years. (Saba)
A general view of Taiz city that has been besieged by the Houthis for eight years. (Saba)
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Houthi Escalation in Taiz, Marib Undermines Peace Efforts, Truce

A general view of Taiz city that has been besieged by the Houthis for eight years. (Saba)
A general view of Taiz city that has been besieged by the Houthis for eight years. (Saba)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias kicked off Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Yemen by committing more crimes in violation of the fragile calm that had prevailed in the country and that had given hope that the militants would agree to a permanent peace roadmap sought by Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The Houthis shelled civilian areas in the western countryside of the Taiz province, killing three civilians, including a child, and wounding nine others.

Local and medical sources identified the child as 12-year-old Najwa Hassan Moqbel Bshaj and the two other victims as Mohammed Abdulbaset al-Habishi and his sister Mariam, reported the Saba news agency.

The wounded suffered various injuries, some serious, added the sources. They are being treated in Mokha city. The sources warned that the death toll from the shelling could rise.

Saba said the attack is part of the daily crimes committed by the terrorist Houthis to “thwart local and regional peace efforts and continue to spill the blood of Yemenis.”

Meanwhile, the Houthis blew up three houses in the Sirwah district in the Marib province on Friday, which was the first day of Eid, revealed a local rights group.

The “Mousawat” rights and freedoms group said the Houthis blew up the homes of Saleh bin Saleh al-Dawla, Abdullah Saleh al-Dawla, and Saleh Nasser al-Dawla al-Jahmy in al-Zour village in Marib.

In a statement, it revealed that the latest attack brought to nine the total number of houses blown up by the Houthis since mid-February as part of their systematic terrorization and forced displacement of opponents.



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.