Saudi-led coalition begins dangerous escalation in Hodeidah

HODEIDAH, April 1 (YPA) -The coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has begun a new military escalation in the city of Hodeidah on Sunday, a military source told Yemen Press Agency.

“The coalition and its militants began a dangerous escalation tonight in various axes in the city of Hodeidah,” a military source said, without giving further details.

For its part, coalition warplanes launched two consecutive raids on fishing boats at the al-Muneera district shore and then again targeted the same area with a third raid not long after.

According to a security source, four civilians were injured when an artillery shell hit a house in Al-Rabsa area of Hawak district.

The escalation comes less than 24 hours after national delegation head Mohammed Abdel Salam met with UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths in order to discuss the implementation of the Sweden Agreement.

Abdul Salam said the meeting “discussed the path of the Hodeidah agreement and the obstacles to the implementation of the two-phase re-deployment plan, which were already agreed upon during a meeting with the UN envoy.”

The head of the national delegation explained that “some proposals and ideas have been discussed to push the implementation along a clear and consistent path that prevents the resurgence of escalation and poses no threat to the city or port.”

The Coalition’s escalation comes only a day after the army and the committees facilitated the meeting of the Chairman of the UN Coordination and Redeployment Committee, General Michael Lollesgaard with the coalition-backed side in order to discuss the revised plan of implementing the Sweden agreement on Hodeidah.

Observers interpret this latest escalation as an extension of attempts by the coalition and its militants to torpedo the Sweden agreement on Hodeidah after the failure of its demands on topics not included in the Convention.

E.M