TEHRAN - Yemeni officials say the “Saudi-American” coalition has carried out wide-scale attacks in a number of provinces in Yemen, the Kingdom southern neighbor, mostly with aerial bombardments that have left a number of civilians dead and others injured while significant damage has been caused to public and private buildings and residential areas. This is while the Saudi-led coalition continues to violate the Stockholm agreement that was supposed to bring peace to the key North Western port city; where 90 percent of Yemen’s vital commodities enter the country.

The escalation in the bombing campaigns can be attributed to Saudi territorial losses on the ground as Yemeni forces liberate more of their land.

In the Northern province of Sa’dah that neighbors the Kingdom, Yemeni media have reported that Saudi forces have fired artillery shells and other forms of gunfire that killed at least one civilian and injured four others, including two African immigrants in the areas of al-Raqq and al-Mufattah as well the border district of Munabbih. Reports also say another civilian has been wounded when Saudi Arabia launched a fresh round of attacks on civilian homes with missiles and artillery shells landing in separate areas on the border districts of Razih and Shada.

In the capital, Sanaa, the “Saudi-American” aggression launched a series of air raids, including two bombing campaigns in the Dhahban neighborhood of the country’s capital leaving several people injured as well as material damage.

The Saudi Arabian military has called on people to stay away from the sites that are being targeted, without identifying which targets the Kingdom’s fighter jets are bombing. Rights groups have criticized Riyadh for targeting civilian sites and most of the airstrikes tend to land on residential neighborhoods so calling on residents to leave their homes is not really the most useful method of saving lives because where exactly are they supposed to escape to when they don’t know what locations are going to be struck.

The attacks all come amid heavy fighting around the city of Marib especially after Saudi-backed forces fled from areas around the key port city of Hodeida and Yemeni forces are making major advances against the Saudi military and Riyadh-backed fighters in what is the Kingdom’s last stronghold in northern Yemen. In Marib, Saudi Arabia launched ten raids in the districts of al-Juba and Serwah.

In al-Jawf province, the “American-Saudi aggression” launched two raids on the Khanjar area in the Khub Wal Sha’af district. Yemeni media also say the “Saudi-American aggression” launched a raid on Haradh district, in Hajjah province, and two air raids on the al-Amsheya area in Harf Sufyan, Amran province.

The escalation in the bombing campaigns can be attributed to Saudi territorial losses on the ground. In Hodeidah, a child has been seriously injured after Saudi-backed mercenaries fired mortar shells that struck a house in the al-Murrir area of the Hays district. The Yemeni Liaison and Coordination Officers Room has registered 98 breaches (of the 2018 Stockholm agreement) by Saudi-led coalition forces in Hodeidah during a span of 24 hours.
The reports indicate that the violations included the flight of 12 warplanes in the airspace of al-Fazah, al-Jabaliya, and Hays, 13 reconnaissance spy planes in the airspace of Hays, and al-Jabaliya, 18 missiles fired and artillery bombardment, as well as 48 breaches with various small to medium arms. On an almost daily basis, Saudi Arabia violates the UN-backed agreement, reached between the warring sides during a round of UN-sponsored peace negotiations in Sweden in December 2018.

The Stockholm agreement committed the parties to an immediate ceasefire in the city of Hodeidah and the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa, redeployment of forces, securing the ports, the establishment of the joint Redeployment Coordination Committee chaired by the United Nations, and the use of the revenues of the ports to support civil service salary payments. Yemenis say instead of bringing peace, the agreement has instead seen an uptick in violence and attacks by the Saudi-led coalition.

The United Nations has called on all sides for a resumption of the Stockholm agreement; something that has been met with suspicion by Yemeni officials because the announcement was made only after Saudi-backed forces fled the area to Marib.

This comes as the spokesman for the Saudi coalition commented on the withdrawal of its forces in Aden calling it “a redeployment” instead. The reality is Riyadh is facing a bit of a dilemma in Hodeidah where Saudi-backed forces fled to Marib and in Aden, Southern Yemen where infighting has been on and off between Saudi-backed forces and Emirati backed forces. This is while the victory laps of the Yemeni Army and Popular Committees in the Battle of Marib has shown a clear determination and willpower by the revolutionary forces to liberate their land and regain the sovereignty of their country with a strategic victory whose repercussions could potentially extend to the region and perhaps beyond in determining the future balance of power in West Asia.

Meanwhile, an extensive meeting has been held in Damt, al-Dhalea province with the attendance of a number of senior Yemeni officials, dignitaries, social figures, and tribal leaders to discuss what Yemeni media described as different ways to confront the latest “American Saudi escalation”

During the meeting, members of the Shura Council, Nayef Haidan and Abdullah al-Farah affirmed that the escalation “through which America seeks to cause more destruction and devastation and occupy more Yemeni areas must be confronted with cohesion and the solidarity of all the free people of this country; to confront it and confront it and thwart it.” During the meeting it was pointed out that the enemies' goal to mobilize the al-Dhalea fronts from the south will require all the liberated areas in al-Dhalea, in addition to the northern areas of Ibb province, to be fully prepared and ready to confront a possible new “enemy” operation from the South. Calls have been raised for strengthening mobilization efforts in the surrounding areas and supplementing the battlefronts with a possible new wide-scale Yemeni operation to fend off fresh enemy plots.

Provincial head, Musharraf al-Dhalea also delivered a speech in which he called on everyone to shoulder responsibility, both within the scope of the work required, saying that this is a time for action and effective action in various fields, especially the military field. He pointed out that “America's efforts to escalate violence in Yemen are aimed at helping and saving the countries of aggression”, which have reached a very critical level after enduring “defeat after defeat” on the battlefield. Also present were other officials of al-Dhalea, who stressed that the “miserable” attempts of the Americans to escalate the battle will be doomed to failure thanks to the vigilance and forward-thinking of the freedom-seeking people of Yemen. For his part, the Director-General of al-Nadra province Abdul Jalil Al-Shami affirmed the readiness of the “sons of al-Nadra” to confront any movements or attempts to escalate the situation.

This as the UN’s migration agency, the International Organisation for Migration has raised concerns over the worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen’s Marib province, where the armed conflict is having a devasting impact on displaced people, migrants, and the communities sheltering them.

According to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix, the number of people forced to evacuate their homes in Marib has risen to more than 45,000 people since September. Christa Rottensteiner, IOM Yemen’s Chief of Mission, said, “IOM is extremely concerned about the prospect that hundreds of thousands of people might be forced to move again if violence reaches the city, as well as rising civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure.”

The war on Yemen began in March 2015, after Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies backed by the United States launched airstrikes to reinstate the country’s former President. Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi was forced to flee Sanaa following a popular revolution. The revolution was triggered after the former President refused to leave office despite his tenure ending and violating the terms of an agreement that stipulated all Yemeni parties will be included in the next government. At the time, Riyadh declared it would take several weeks for Hadi to return to power, the war now reaching its seventh anniversary.