Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement has denounced the tight siege of the country’s city of al-Durayhimi by Saudi-led coalition and the military loyal to former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi calling that an ‘obvious crime’ against the impoverished Arab country.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the chairman of the Supreme
Revolutionary Committee of Yemen and the movement’s spokesman, made the comment
on Monday, Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.
He also said that the United Nation was making yet another crime by witnessing
the brutal siege but doing nothing.
However, al-Houthi described as a “positive act” the importing of humanitarian
aid, particularly food, by the UN agencies to the besieged city, adding that
the food “was not enough” for the desperate and trapped people of al-Durayhimi,
which is located in the volatile province of Hudaydah.
He also stressed that what was needed to be done “is to lift” the siege and put
an end to the years-long deadly aggression on Yemeni people.
Leading a coalition of its allies, Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 in
an attempt to reinstall Hadi, who had resigned amid popular discontent and fled
to Riyadh, and to crush the Houthis, who have been significantly helping the
Yemeni army against a Saudi-led aggression for the past four years.
The imposed war initially consisted of an aerial campaign, but was later
coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground mercenaries to
Yemen. Furthermore, armed militia forces loyal to Hadi, in line with invaders,
launch frequent attacks against Yemeni people in regions held by Houthis.
The aggression is estimated to have left 56,000 Yemenis dead.
The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure,
destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has said that a record
22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened
by severe hunger.
According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in
more than 100 years.
A number of Western countries, the US, France, and Britain in particular, are
also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply
the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as
logistical and intelligence assistance.
