FM says Houthis push ahead with attacking Marib, refusing ceasefire

MOSCOW – SABA
Yemen’s Foreign Minister said the Houthi militia are pushing ahead with their aggression on Marib city and refusing the ceasefire proposal in place.

In a meeting with the Chair of the Committee of the Federation Council on Foreign Affairs of Russia Grigory Karasin here today, Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said Marib is populated by the biggest concentration of Yemeni IDPs and the radical Houthi militants continue to fire all kinds of heavy shells they have on the city’s IDPs camps and neighborhoods.

He said the Houthi militia are responsible for this escalation and the overall Yemeni conflict that produced the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. He said the Yemeni government desires to reach a comprehensive and just peace and has therefore reacted positively to all peace mediation efforts. He also stressed the imperative of enforcing the Riyadh Agreement especially by merging the different paramilitary factions into the government’s regular forces, and empowering the government to assume its responsibilities in the interim capital, Aden.

He also emphasized the importance of reinvigorating the Russo-Yemen cooperation for the mutual interest of both countries.