DUBAI, United Arab Emirates —
Yemen's
warring parties on Tuesday traded accusations of violating a ceasefire
agreement, three days after it went into effect at the start of Ramadan.
اضافة اعلان
The internationally recognized government,
supported by a Saudi-led military coalition, and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels
have been locked in a violent power struggle since 2014, when the insurgents
seized the capital Sanaa.
But a two-month truce that started on
Saturday — the first day of the Muslim fasting
month of Ramadan — has offered a
glimmer of hope in the conflict considered the world's worst humanitarian
crisis.
Yemen's foreign minister, Ahmed bin Mubarak,
in a Twitter post accused the Houthis of ceasefire violations.
"The truce has been greatly welcomed,
but it is threatened by Houthi's breaches including military deployments,
mobilization of troops & vehicles, artillery and drone strikes," he
wrote in English, without providing details.
While the insurgents did not directly
respond to the claims, their media channels also reported alleged
"breaches", but by pro-government troops, on Sunday and Monday.
Since 2016, the coalition backing the
government has enforced an air and sea blockade on Yemen, with exemptions for
aid flights, accusing Tehran of smuggling weapons to the rebels. Iran denies
the charge.
'Pivotal' moment
The US special envoy for Yemen,
Tim Lenderking, told Bloomberg TV on Monday all sides to the conflict had
compromised and showed flexibility, with nobody getting "entirely what
they want".
"I think this is a really pivotal
moment for Yemen, and I think what it does is it gives the Yemenis a break from
seven years of conflict," he added.
Under the latest ceasefire agreement
brokered by the UN, all ground, air, and naval military operations, including
cross-border attacks, are meant to cease.
In addition, 18 fuel ships are to be allowed
into Hodeida port, a lifeline for Yemen, and two commercial flights a week are
allowed into and out of the rebel-held Sanaa airport.
The truce announcement came as discussions
on Yemen's devastating conflict were being held in
Saudi Arabia — in the
absence of the insurgents, who refused to hold talks on "enemy"
territory.
The civil war has killed hundreds of
thousands, directly or indirectly, according to UN figures, and pushed the
country to the brink of famine.
Yemeni President
Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, in
remarks Monday in the Saudi capital Riyadh, called on the Houthis to return to
the negotiating table in order to "let us heal our torn homeland's
wounds".
"If it does in fact hold, and there is goodwill
from everyone, I think things may get better and safety and security will
return to the country," Houssam Fathi, 24, a resident of Sanaa, told AFP.
A national truce ahead of peace talks in
April 2016 was violated almost immediately, as were other ceasefires that year.
A 2018 agreement to cease hostilities around
rebel-held Hodeida port was also largely ignored.
In the western city of
Hodeida, 45-year-old
Abdulaziz, said he was still struggling to make a living as a delivery person
amid inflation.
"I buy fuel from the black market at
very high prices," he said, adding: "This truce seems
impossible."
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