Warplanes from a Saudi Arabia-led coalition bombarded Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, overnight, a witness said, as the nation’s warring factions prepared for talks scheduled to start in Geneva yesterday.
The strikes caused large explosions before dawn and hit locations south and west of the city as part of the coalition’s nearly 12-week campaign to target the Houthi militia and army forces loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The talks to be hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are aimed at finding a political solution to the fighting that has caused thousands of deaths in Yemen, but it was not clear whether the opposing factions would meet.
Photo: AFP
Delegates are to instead meet initially in separate rooms for talks with UN officials, who would try to bring them closer together with the ultimate aim of getting them around the same table.
There is little sign so far that either the Houthis and Saleh — said to be allied with Iran — or Riyadh-based Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi are ready to compromise after fighting that has resulted in a stalemate since Saudi Arabian airstrikes began on March 26.
While Western countries largely backed Riyadh’s air campaign as a way of pushing the Houthis to the negotiating table, they have more recently started to press the kingdom to commence another humanitarian pause to allow aid in, and to negotiate.
An existing humanitarian crisis in Yemen was worsened by an air and sea blockade imposed to stop arms supplies to the Houthis and Saleh, but which also cut off access to food, medicine and fuel for many of the country’s citizens.
In recent weeks, an “alarming” number of dengue fever and measles cases have also been reported in Yemen, contributing to a public health crisis, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a note late on Sunday.
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