The Saudi Arabian-led Coalition surrounds the Hutus in Yemen

Yemen has been immersed in a fratricidal civil war since 2014. In these six years of conflict between Hutu rebels, who ousted President Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi from power, and the government ranks led by the latter, the country has become the biggest humanitarian crisis on the planet, with 24 million people in need of urgent humanitarian aid. And in this bleak scenario, fears of a coronavirus outbreak have emerged. Although the country is currently not registering any cases, international authorities warn that when the pandemic arrives, the tragedy could reach unknown dimensions.

However, this alarm over what would be the world's biggest humanitarian crisis has not led to a cessation of violence in Yemen, as requested by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who called for a global and humanitarian ceasefire in the face of the rapid spread of the coronavirus. 

The international coalition led by Saudi Arabia - also known as the Arab Coalition - which supports the Al-Hadi faction against the Hutu front, launched on Saturday a military operation over the capital, Sana'a, to neutralize and destroy “legitimate military objectives of the Hutu terrorist militia in accordance with international customary humanitarian law in order to face imminent and ongoing threats”, according to a statement issued by the Saudi press agency SPA. In practice, this resulted in the launch of 19 air attacks, according to the rebel-affiliated Al-Masirah network. 

“The targets that were destroyed include advanced terrorist militia capabilities, storage sites, assembly and installation of ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, expert locations of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and weapons depots,” the note said. However, local journalists shared photos on Twitter showing how a Military College stable was also damaged in the offensive, killing dozens of horses.

This new Coalition movement comes in response to the “attacks by Hutu terrorist militia against civilians, nationals and expatriates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Saturday, 29 March 2020, which reflect its savage and villainous nature and represent serious violations of international humanitarian law, especially at a time when numerous international efforts are underway to combat the COVID-19 outbreak,” according to the note.

The spokesman for the alliance, Colonel Turki al-Maliki, thus referred to the drones that were intercepted by the Saudi air defence system in Riyadh airspace over Yazan province, bordering Yemen, three days ago. Two days earlier, on 27 March, several drones were successfully shot down, targeting civilian targets, including the Saudi cities of Abha and Khamis Mushait. 

So far, the new military operation launched from the Coalition's ranks has succeeded in freeing up new areas in the governorate of Saada, the main stronghold of the Hutu militias, located in the north-west of the capital. According to the official Yemeni news agency, Saudi Arabia led a large-scale attack on insurgent positions in the Baqim district early this morning, allowing it to regain control of some areas in Taba Naif. The Coalition has also destroyed the military equipment used by the Hutus to attack the soldiers of the Al-Hadi Army.

As for personal injury on the side of the militia, the publication revealed that “some were injured, while others were captured”.

A senior Saudi official revealed on Wednesday that his country has once again invited the Hutus to Riyadh for peace talks, according to local media Aden Press, which also reported that the militia has so far not offered a response.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed al-Jaber, told the Wall Street Journal that the proposal “is still on the table”, despite this weekend's escalation of tension. “We are committed to reducing violence ... We are ready to have a ceasefire throughout Yemen if they agree to it,” he said in the US newspaper.

In fact, on the offensive launched with 19 missiles, the diplomat has assured that they conveyed to the Hutus that this was not a re-escalation of the conflict, but that they were simply responding to the attempted drone attacks that had taken place days before.

Jaber also explained that before this latest wave of attacks, the two parties had already committed to cease hostilities and begin peace talks in the country, following a request made by the UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths. 

It should be recalled at this point that Riyadh has traditionally been the venue for negotiations between the two factions, as has the capital of Oman, Muscat.