Houthi: Yemen war will end once Saudi-led aggression, siege stop

A high-ranking member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council says the ongoing conflict in the impoverished country will finish once the Saudi-led coalition puts an end to its aggressive military campaign and lifts its sea and air blockade.

“The coalition of aggression member states and their allies besiege the Yemeni nation, attack, invade and occupy parts of our motherland, and the same call on us to stop fighting,” Mohammed Ali al-Houthi wrote in a series of posts published on his Twitter page on Saturday.

He addressed the Saudi-led military alliance, saying, “You tyrants, stop your aggression and siege for the famine and tragedy to end.”

Houthi said Yemeni armed forces and their allied fighters from Popular Committees did not initiate the war, demanding the Saudi-led coalition withdraw its forces in order for peace to prevail.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, another member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, held the Riyadh regime and its regional allies responsible for the fighting raging across Yemen.

“Saudi Arabia and the rest of the coalition countries are the ones that initiated the aggression against Yemen, and insist on its continuation. They are the ones behind the recent escalation in clashes in Ma’rib,” Bukhaiti told Turkey’s state-run TRT Arabi  television.

Bukhaiti said, “We defend ourselves and retaliate against the coalition’s escalation by striking targets deep inside Saudi Arabia, and trying to seize oil installations in Ma’rib.”

“America and its allies have completely banned the entry of oil derivatives, which has caused a major crisis that all Yemeni people are suffering from. Most factories and farms have come to a standstill, and hospitals are about to close due to shortage of fuel,” he added.

The Supreme Political Council member said Yemen is ready to stop fighting immediately if the US, Britain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates respond to its call to stop the aggression. “We are waiting for their actions, not words.” 

Bukhaiti touched on the ongoing Ma’rib offensive and the reasons the Yemeni armed forces had launched the operation.

“It was necessary to confront escalation through two approaches: Firstly, retaking oil and gas fields in Ma’rib, which are under the control of the coalition of aggression member states and their mercenaries, and secondly, to strike oil installations deep inside Saudi Arabia to force it to lift the siege.”  

‘Shabwah, Hadhramaut next after Ma’rib liberation’

Sultan al-Sama’i, a member of the Supreme Political Council, said Yemeni army troops and Popular Committees fighters will liberate the neighboring provinces of Shabwah and Hadhramaut after establishing full control over Ma’rib.

He told al-Mayadeen television news network that the Saudi-led coalition has reaped “nothing but shame from the war, and the prestige of Saudi Arabia and its allies has been badly damaged.”

Sama’i said it was the United States that provoked Saudi Arabia into aggression against Yemen.

He said Yemeni armed forces have located “hundreds of vital targets deep inside Saudi Arabia that will be struck in case the aggression and siege continue.”

“We are determined to remove Saudi-led coalition forces from all Yemeni provinces. Liberation of every iota of Yemen’s land is a national and religious duty, independent from the path of negotiations,” he said.

Saudi airstrikes in Sana’a, elsewhere  

Saudi warplanes carried out a number of airstrikes against civilian structures across Yemen early Sunday.

They launched two air raids against Sana’a International Airport as well as Hafa and Sanhan areas around the Yemeni capital.

Another airstrike was launched against al-Salif coastal village in Yemen’s strategic  western province of Hudaydah.

Backed by the US and others, Saudi Arabia launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing a former government back to power and crushing the popular Ansarullah movement.

The Yemeni armed forces and allied popular groups have, however, gone from strength to strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.

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