Dimming hopes for peace

Amal Mohammed & Dana Moukhallati -

A year after Yemen’s warring sides agreed to a UN-brokered truce for the key port city of Hodeida and its surroundings, peace remains out of reach.

Fighting between the government — backed by a Saudi-led military coalition — and Ansar Allah fighters has subsided in western Hodeida province, but the slow implementation of the deal has quashed residents’ hopes for an end to the conflict.

The landmark agreement signed in Sweden on December 13 was hailed as Yemen’s best chance so far to end the fighting that has pushed the country to the brink of famine.

Hopes were high that a de-escalation in Hodeida, whose port serves as the country’s lifeline, would allow desperately needed food and medical aid to reach millions in need.

But amid the conflict that has gripped the country since 2014, residents of the flashpoint city say they still live in fear.

“There are less clashes now, but they have not stopped completely,” resident Rima Saleh said.

“The agreement has yet to be implemented a year on and the relatively calm situation can explode at any moment,” the 33-year-old said.

Last year, loyalists launched an offensive to retake the Red Sea port city, which serves as a crucial entry point for imports and humanitarian aid.

The offensive was halted when it reached the streets of Hodeida, before UN-brokered talks between the warring parties in Sweden yielded a ceasefire and a deal to release some 16,000 prisoners from both sides.

But “a year after the agreement, there is yet to be withdrawal from Hodeida, a long-lasting ceasefire (or) the release of all the prisoners,” said Ali al Sarari, advisor to the Yemeni prime minister.

In October, in what the UN hailed as a positive step, the two sides set up joint observation posts as part of de-escalation moves in the city, but they continued to trade accusations over violations of the Hodeida agreement.

The step came five months after the UN announced that the fighters had withdrawn from the city and two other nearby ports, the first practical step on the ground since the ceasefire deal.

But the government accused the militia of faking the pullout, saying it had merely handed control to its allies.

The coalition has so far freed only 135 Ansar Allah fighters, and the organisation has released 290 coalition fighters.

“Very, very few parts of the agreement have been implemented, including the erection of (joint) posts... but there is nothing else that is new in this regard,” said senior Ansar Allah official Hamid Assem.

Aid groups say that the Hodeida region remains the most dangerous place in Yemen, despite the dip in violence. — AFP