TAEZ, Yemen — Hundreds of protesters in
war-torn Yemen marched Wednesday against the years-long blockade of a major
city by Houthi rebels, as
UN-brokered talks to end the siege started in Jordan.
اضافة اعلان
Demonstrators in Taez,
Yemen’s third biggest city,
chanted “Oh, you Houthi, you backstabber”. Among the crowds, which included
women and children, some held up signs in English that read: “End Taez seige”.
Holding talks to end the blockade was agreed as part of a two-month renewable
truce that began in April, and which has significantly reduced fighting in the
seven-year civil war.
Taez, which has a population of roughly 600,000
people and lies in Yemen’s mountainous southwest, has been largely cut off from
the world since 2015, when the rebels closed the main routes into the city.
The Iran-backed rebels seized the capital Sanaa in
2014, triggering a military intervention by a
Saudi-led coalition. More than
150,000 people have been killed and millions displaced, creating the world’s
worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.
Taez resident Khalifa al-Samei said that the
international community and the UN should “quickly” work to lift the “unjust
siege”. “It is a legitimate human right... and according to the terms of the
truce agreed upon two months ago,” he said.
Ishraq Hail, another resident, said the matter must
be resolved. “The opening of the Taez roads will take place either by peace, or
by war,” she said. “We don’t beg”.
Talks began in the Jordanian capital Amman between
Yemen’s internationally-recognized government and the Houthis “on the opening of
roads in Taez and other governorates”, UN special envoy
Hans Grundberg’s office
said.
Holding the talks was a key part of the truce
agreement, as well as other stipulations including the resumption of commercial
flights from rebel-held Sanaa and the return of fuel ships to the lifeline port
of
Hodeida. Last week, the first commercial flight in six years left Sanaa’s
airport, which has been blockaded by the coalition.
Oil ships have also been allowed to dock in Hodeida.
The talks and protest come a week before the nationwide truce is set to expire,
with UN efforts underway to extend it and the
Houthis signaling they would be
prepared to renew.
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