US ‘beyond fed up’ with Houthi attacks in Yemen

SMA NEWS – WASHINGTON

The US State Department is “beyond fed up” with Houthi attacks in Yemen, spokesperson Ned Price told a press briefing on Thursday.

The Yemeni militia has escalated its offensive on Marib, and this continues to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, Price added.

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since 2014, when the Iranian-backed Houthi militias swept across much of the north and seized the capital, Sana’a, forcing the internationally recognised government into exile.

The Saudi-led coalition entered the war the following year on the side of the government. The war has killed more than 130,000 people and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been attempting since February to capture Marib from the internationally recognised government, which would complete their control over the northern part of Yemen.

However, they have not made substantial progress and have suffered heavy losses amid stiff resistance from government forces aided by the Saudi-led coalition supporting them.

The Houthis have fired ballistic missiles and sent drones into Marib, often hitting civilian areas and camps for displaced people. More than 120 civilians have been killed, including 15 children, and more than 220 wounded in Marib in the past six months, according to the government.

Earlier this week, the US’s top diplomat in Yemen, Cathy Westley, condemned a Houthi missile attack and called for the militias to “accept a ceasefire and engage in negotiations” on a peaceful settlement to the conflict.

The Houthi offensive on Marib, combined with accelerating missile and explosives-laden drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, has come amid mounting international efforts to halt the fighting and relaunch talks between the warring parties to end the war in the Arab world’s poorest country.

Earlier in June, the US imposed sanctions targeting the Houthi militias as it voiced exasperation that the Iranian-banked insurgents have kept up a military campaign.

At the time, the Treasury Department said it was imposing sanctions on several individuals including Said al-Jamal, a Houthi supporter who allegedly has run a smuggling network out of Iran to sell oil illicitly to benefit the militias.

The US hoped increased pressure would push the Houthis to end their offensive launched in February to seize Marib, the last significant pocket of government-held territory in the north.

“It is time for the Houthis to accept a ceasefire and for all parties to resume political talks,” Blinken said in a statement earlier in June.

“The United States will continue to apply pressure to the Houthis, including through targeted sanctions, to advance those goals,” he added.

Saudi Arabia, among others, has expressed a willingness to see an end to the war in Yemen and has put forward proposals for ending the conflict.

Nevertheless, the Houthi militias remain uncommitted to reaching a solution, and US officials have repeatedly stated that this was the case.