Saudi-Led Coalition Using Starvation as Weapon of War against Yemeni People: Official

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi in a tweet on Sunday evening censured the ongoing Saudi-led naval and air blockade on his country, emphasizing that the crippling blockade amounts to a deliberate crime against the entire Yemeni population.

“The continuation of the siege and the Saudi-led coalition’s refusal to implement provisions of the ceasefire, which is an official document under the auspices of the United Nations and the Security Council, amounts to an intentional crime against all Yemeni people,” al-Houthi said.

Saudi Arabia began to lead a devastating war and blockade against Yemen in 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states.

The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.

While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Affairs Jalal al-Ruwishan said there is clear evidence that the Saudi-led coalition continues its all-out aggression against Yemen in violation of the terms and conditions of a UN-brokered ceasefire, which began on April 2 and was extended earlier this month.

Ruwishan said in an interview with Arabic-language al-Masirah television that the truce would be “meaningless and pointless” in case it does not result in the opening of Yemeni ports and airports as well as the payment of civil servants.

He asserted that Yemenis will determinedly restore their rights by all available means.

“If the Saudi-led war coalition keeps on violating the ceasefire, the Yemeni nation will not accept a failed truce,” the top Yemeni official warned.

“Our people and armed forces have not tied domestic and defense issues to the truce, and have been not held down by it. They are doubtful about the sincerity of aggressors and forces of aggression.”

Ruwishan went on to say that Yemeni diplomats have insisted on the removal of the brutal siege and elimination of the sufferings of the Yemeni people in the so-called peace talks, noting that Saudi Arabia and its allies do not abide by the UN-backed ceasefire as required.

He complained that what has been achieved so far as a result of the ceasefire is less than 10% of what was declared in its terms.