AL-MUKALLA: The Houthis are temporarily allowing UN humanitarian flights to land at Sanaa airport, after a week-long suspension in the wake of Arab coalition airstrikes.
The militia-controlled Saba news agency reported that the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Authority announced the resumption of these flights after repairing the airport's navigation and communications equipment.
The Houthis prevented the flights from landing at Sanaa, which is Yemen’s largest airport, as the coalition intensified its airstrikes on military sites controlled by them in Sanaa, including the airport.
The coalition has accused the Houthis of turning the airport into a military site for assembling and launching ballistic missiles and explosive-rigged drones at civilian targets in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
It showed a video clip of a Lebanese military expert from Hezbollah training the Houthis on how to booby trap and launch drones from a facility at Sanaa airport.
UN Yemen envoy Hans Grundberg on Tuesday condemned the continuing military escalation across the country, mainly the Houthi offensive on the central city of Marib and cross-border attacks on civilians in Saudi Arabia.
“The escalation in recent weeks is among the worst we have seen in Yemen for years and the threat to civilian lives is increasing,” Grundberg said, calling upon the warring factions to stop hostilities, including attacks on civilians, and comply with efforts to end the war. “Any targeting of civilians and civilian objects as well as indiscriminate attacks by any actor is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and must stop immediately. The parties must also preserve the civilian character of public infrastructure.”
The UN has been pushing the government and Houthis to accept the latest version of its peace initiative that calls for an immediate nationwide truce followed by the full reopening of Sanaa airport and lifting restrictions on the movement of ships through Hodeidah seaport.
Violence in Yemen has become more intense since February, when the Houthis resumed an offensive to capture Marib, rejecting local and international calls for de-escalation and warnings against the grave impact it would have on internally displaced people in the city.
Grundberg’s office said the UN envoy would “work with the parties to find immediate solutions to de-escalate the violence, address urgent humanitarian needs, and enable a political process aimed at sustainably and comprehensively ending the conflict in Yemen.”
