Houthis blame Saudi Arabia and allies for Yemen stampede tragedy

This is the worst tragedy in Yemen and the Houthis just want to take responsibility. Nearly 80 people, including women and children, are dead and 139 injured after a stampede last night at a school in the Houthi rebel-held Yemeni capital of Sana'a. The crowd had gathered in the air to break up the crowd, which was dispersed by gunmen who fired into the air to break up the crowd.  

The crowd had gathered to receive a 5,000 Yemeni riyals grant for the end of Ramadan when gunmen fired into the air to disperse the crowd, which panicked and triggered the deadly stampede. Initial statements by Houthi militia leader Mohamed Ali Al-Houthi cleared the rebel group of any responsibility.  

"The stampede incident is a painful wound, a new tragedy and a bleak picture caused by the aggression of the US, UK, Saudi Arabia, UAE and their allies, who led the Yemeni people to the world's worst humanitarian crisis," Al-Houthi posted on his Twitter account. "We hold the aggressor countries responsible for what happened and for the bitter reality that the Yemeni people are living through aggression, blockade, wage cuts and destruction of the currency." 

Blaming allies of the internationally recognised Yemeni government and arresting the two local traders who were delivering aid. These are, for the moment, the measures taken by the Supreme Political Council. But it was neither the traders who fired into the air, the element that triggered the avalanche, nor the government's allies in Aden who are entirely responsible for the population famine in Sana'a. 

Yemen has been in a fratricidal civil war since the Houthi militias, the self-styled 'Supporters of God', staged a coup against President Al-Hadi in 2014. More than 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and more than 23 million people, three-quarters of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to UN figures.

After more than eight years of devastating conflict, the world's largest humanitarian crisis was hopefully coming to an end with the latest visit of the Omani and Saudi delegations to Sana'a to establish with the Iranian-backed Houthis a peace deal for Yemen, a permanent ceasefire and a lifting of the Yemeni blockade. Indeed, the first fruits of these talks materialised in an exchange of hundreds of prisoners.  

However, the Houthis are explicitly asking Saudi Arabia to guarantee the departure of all foreign forces. "A complete resolution cannot be reached unless all the occupying forces leave the Republic of Yemen, and this includes all the islands and other areas," Houthi leader Mohamed Ali Al-Houthi told CNN in an interview.

The Houthis' steadfast refusal of Saudi overtures and recent accusations not only pushes away the "most real" peace deals yet, but puts a political price tag on the more than 80 people who have died in the Sana'a stampede.