SANA’A (Dispatches) – Yemenis held mass protests in several cities and provinces, including the capital, on Monday to condemn a siege imposed by a Saudi-led coalition and its seizure of ships carrying critically needed petroleum products.
The protests took place in Sana’a, Sa’ada, Hajjah, Ta’izz, al-Jawf, Ibb and al-Bayda, Yemen’s Al-Masirah television network reported.
In Sana’a, tens of thousands of Yemeni people hit the streets to condemn the Saudi oil blockade.
Several officials addressed the crowd, warning Saudi Arabia of retaliation for causing hardship to the Yemeni people. They said Yemenis will never cave in to pressure or accept humiliation of any sort.
In Sa’ada, protesters carried the Yemeni flag and chanted slogans condemning the U.S.-backed Saudi aggression and siege.
The demonstrators also decried the United Nations’ silence on crimes committed against the Yemeni people.
In a statement, the protesters held Washington fully responsible for the siege imposed on Yemen, stressing that the seizure of petroleum products is “an American aggression, and confronting it is a legitimate duty”.
They said the closure of Hudaydah port is “a war crime,” decrying the international community’s silence on that.
The demonstrators reiterated their support for attacks carried out by the Yemeni forces in retaliation for the Saudi aggression.
Last week, Essam al-Mutawakel, a spokesman for the Yemen Petroleum Company (YPC), said the Arab country is experiencing the toughest crisis since the start of the Saudi aggression and siege nearly seven years ago.
Yemen’s Minister of Oil and Minerals