Houthi troops ride on the back of a police patrol truck after participating in a Houthi gathering in Sanaa, Yemen February 19, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS
A two-week ceasefire announced by the coalition that is battling the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen expired on Thursday without leading to a permanent truce.
The Houthi group did not accept the coalition’s previous ceasefire announcement and violence has continued in several provinces, raising fears that the war will grind on and shatter Yemen’s already weakened ability to combat the coronavirus.
The Houthis ousted the internationally recognised Saudi-backed government from power in the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014. They want a lifting of air and sea blockades imposed by the coalition to the regions they control before agreeing to a ceasefire, sources have told Reuters.
“The coalition’s command reaffirms that there is still an opportunity to focus all efforts in order to achieve a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire,” coalition spokesperson Colonel Turki al-Maliki was quoted as saying by the SPA.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last month called for ceasefires in conflicts across the world to allow countries to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Yemen has reported only one confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, aid groups fear a catastrophic outbreak should the virus spread among an acutely malnourished population in a country without adequate testing capabilities.
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