SANA’A (Dispatches) – Yemen’s Ansarullah group said the ongoing UN-brokered truce with Saudi and UAE-backed militants and mercenaries in south of the country could lead to a permanent peace if the Sana’a-based government’s terms are implemented, al-Masirah TV reported on Friday.
“The chances of extending the current truce and reaching a permanent peace are big if the terms are implemented, including the issues of addressing the payment of salaries of the civil servants and completely lifting the blockades on Sana’a International Airport and Hudaytdah seaport,” the television quoted Ansarulalh Spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam as saying.
“If this truce ends without reaching a clear agreement, we will target who targets us,” Abdulsalam said.
The ongoing truce, which has been largely held, went into force for the first time on April 2 and was renewed for two months on June 2, and then extended for an additional two months on August 2.
Breakthroughs in the past four months of truce include the resumption of commercial flights to and from the Sana’a airport and the entry of fuel ships into the port of Hudaydah. However, the siege on the Taiz city has not been lifted yet.
The remarks came after Saudi Arabia reportedly violated the UN-brokered Yemen ceasefire more than 158 times since Thursday by conducting more airstrikes on the war-wracked Arab country.
The violations included reconnaissance missions over the provinces of Ma’rib, Ta’izz, Hajjah, Jawf, Sa’ada, al-Hadidah, and border areas, al-Masirah reported.
The report added that the armed reconnaissance aircraft belonging to the Saudi-led coalition also targeted residential neighborhoods and positions of the army and Popular Committees in Ma’rib, Ta’izz, Najran, and al-Hadidah provinces.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been waging the war on Yemen since March 2015.
The invasion has been seeking to change Yemen’s ruling structure in favor of the impoverished country’s former Riyadh- and Washington-friendly rulers and crush the Ansarullah resistance movement. The Saudi-led coalition has failed to meet any of its objectives.
The war, which has been enjoying unstinting arms, logistical, and political support on the part of the United States, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire country into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.