The Yemeni Houthi movement on Friday accused the Saudi-led coalition of a dangerous escalation of the situation around Hodeidah after coalition forces attacked targets north of the port city. The actions threatened a UN-brokered ceasefire accord in the Red Sea port, Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdul-Salam said.
The Saudi-led coalition on Friday launched a military operation north of Hodeidah against what it described as “legitimate military targets.”
A coalition spokesperson said attacks had destroyed four sites used to assemble remote-controlled boats and sea mines to help protect the freedom of maritime navigation.
“The concentrated raids on Hodeidah constitute a dangerous escalation that could blow up the Sweden agreement,” the Houthi spokesperson said on Twitter. “The coalition will bear the responsibility of this escalation which is also a test to the United Nations.”
A Hodeidah ceasefire and troop redeployment agreement was reached in 2018 at peace talks in Sweden as a trust-building measure to pave the way for talks to end the war, but it stalled for months before a Houthi withdrawal from three Red Sea ports.
The Western-backed, Sunni Muslim coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government in Sanaa in late 2014.
