UN Security Council Urges Yemen Ceasefire, New Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The UN Security Council urged the warring parties in Yemen to resume a ceasefire and participate in a new round of talks in mid-January.
The council welcomed Tuesday “the positive progress” in the last round of UN-facilitated talks from Dec. 15-20 and called on and the loyalists of fugitive former president Abd Rabbou Mansour Hadi and Houthis to engage in new talks without preconditions, reject violence and refrain from provocations.
The council statement, issued after a closed briefing, expresses deep concern at the “dire humanitarian situation which continues to worsen,” Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition intensified in Yemen Tuesday, residents said, ending weeks of a relative lull in the war.
Large airstrikes targeted military positions linked to the Houthis in the capital Sana'a, the port city of Hudaida and the disputed southwestern city of Taiz.
Residents reported that the air raids hit a care center for the blind and Yemen’s Chamber of Commerce headquarters, in which there were no casualties. Heavy shelling also resumed on battle fronts.
Houthi fighters launched Katyusha rockets at the city of Marib, residents said, their first attack on the area since Persian Gulf Arab troops and armed loyalists of Mansour Hadi seized it from the group over the summer.
Houthi forces also advanced against pro-Hadi militiamen in the northwestern province of Al-Hajjah and the far southern province of Lahej, reversing recent gains made the coalition.
