Yemeni president to snub UN-sponsored talks in Geneva

24/05/2015| IslamWeb

Yemeni government spokesman Rageh Badi has said Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi will not attend upcoming peace talks in Geneva.

Badi said on Saturday that Hadi would not attend due to the security situation and because Houthi rebels have not satisfied a government pre-condition to pull out of towns and cities they occupy - including the capital, Sanaa.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged all sides to attend the talks, which are set to begin on May 28.

Air strikes continue

Warplanes from the Arab coalition, meanwhile, have launched a fresh wave of air strikes across Yemen targeting Houthi rebels as fighting raged on the ground in the south of the country, witnesses said.

The air raids on Saturday pounded arms depots, controlled by Houthi fighters in the locality of Ghula, in Omran province north of Sanaa, residents said.

They followed similar bombardments of weapons storage facilities in the capital that sparked deadly explosions.

The Arab coalition has stepped up raids on positions it says are held by the Houthis and their allies since a humanitarian ceasefire ended late on Tuesday.

At Hajja in the north of the country, a gathering of Houthis was struck, killing at least 12 fighters, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Air strikes also attacked rebel positions in the central region of Dhamar, officials there said.

In southern Yemen, warplanes targeted rebels locked in combat with tribesmen in Ataq, the capital of Shabwa province, military officials said.

The fighting killed at least 28 people, including 17 Houthis and 11 tribesmen, the sources said.

In Aden, clashes raged in the north, east and west of the port city between rebels and fighters loyal to Hadi, military sources said.

The coalition launched the air campaign against the Houthis on March 26 after the rebels seized the capital and advanced on Hadi's stronghold of Aden, who fled to Riyadh.

The UN says the violence has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced close to half a million more.

 

 

 

PHOTO CAPTION

The UN plans to hold a conference on Yemen in Geneva next week, after the conflict has reportedly killed over 1,000 people [AFP]

Aljazeera