Yemen govt, Houthis trade accusations amid ceasefire

Sanaa, April 10 The Yemen government and the Houthis have traded accusations over a series of strikes, a day after a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed rebels declared a temporary ceasefire to focus attention on battling efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

On Wednesday, the Saudi-led Arab alliance said it would observe a renewable two-week ceasefire in Yemen in response to the UN's calls for a halt in military hostilities around the globe in order to slow the pandemic, reports Efe news.

On Thursday, Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdelmalek blamed the Houthis for firing a ballistic missile on residential neighbourhoods in the city of Marib, and bombing al-Hodeidah as well as other areas after the announcement of the truce.

"The ceasefire is a serious opportunity to secure Yemen and its people from the risks of coronavirus, not a chance to blackmail and exploit the needs and fears of the people," Abdelmalek said on Twitter, hoping the Houthis would abide by the humanitarian truce.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, meanwhile, accused the Saudi-led forces of launching attacks on various battlefronts since the early hours of Thursday.

"They carried out more than five raids on Haradh, Rushahah and al-Buqaa, and they are still going on since dawn under an intensive air cover with fighter jets and Apache helicopters," he saidd.

Saree said the Houthis responded to those attacks, adding that dozens were killed in their rivals' ranks.

Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries, has not officially recorded any COVID-19 case yet.

The aim of the ceasefire is to end the years-long conflict in Yemen and "concentrate on confronting" the virus, according to the Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan.

Farhan tweeted earlier that Saudi Arabia would pledge $500 million to a UN humanitarian response plan in Yemen and an extra $25 million to fight coronavirus.

Yemen has been gripped by a devastating conflict since late 2014, setting the Houthis against the internationally-recognized government.

The power-struggle intensified when Saudi Arabia began a military intervention in Yemen in March 2015 in support of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi against the rebels, pushing Yemen to the verge of famine and devastating its health facilities.

( With inputs from IANS )