Red Cross: Fighting Grows in Yemen’s Taiz, Situation ‘Dire

The warning came as a suicide bomber killed two pro-government fighters in a blast that targeted a checkpoint in the centre of Yemen’s second city, a security official said.

In his speech to the United Security Council, he affirmed the Houthi group and the General People’s Congress, the party of the former president, agreed to comply with the council’s resolution 2216 and that the government agreed to attend the peace talks expected later this month.

Saudi Arabia has been leading an Arab military intervention since March to try to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government, now based in Aden instead of the capital Sanaa, and fend off what it sees as creeping Iranian influence.

The Saudi-led coalition has gained ground in southern Yemen, and Hadi’s government officially returned to Aden after southern fighters and coalition forces drove the Houthis out in July.

Yemen has been embroiled in fighting between Houthis and allied army units against forces loyal to the internationally recognized government as well as southern separatists and other militants.

At least 40 people were killed, including several fishermen, when Saudi-led coalition strikes hit two Yemeni islands on the Red Sea overnight, several locals said on Saturday. Security officials said al-Qaida and other extremist Islamic groups in Aden obtained more than 55 armored vehicles and 22 tanks, captured during the fighting.

A security official in Aden told the media on Sunday that armed tribesmen raided the central prison in Aden, killing a guard and wounding another, in order to free a prisoner held for an earlier attack in the city. Washington considers al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch to be the most risky offshoot of the terror network. Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that in Yemen “civilians continue to face a deteriorating humanitarian situation and suffer the consequences of blatant disregard for the laws of war”.

The mediators told AP they tried to convince the militants to lay down their weapons and integrate into society, promising they wouldn’t be harassed if they do.

Several previous attempts at peace talks have failed, with the Houthis resisting calls to withdraw from areas they control and both sides raising preconditions.