Yemen VP urges national unity against Houthis

Yemeni Vice President Ali Mohsen Saleh has called for national unity to defeat the Houthi militias.
Addressing a meeting of leaders of the Nasserite Popular Unionist Party in Aden, he urged all political parties and national organizations to unite their ranks in confronting the Iran-backed Houthis, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
He discussed the role of political parties in supporting the internationally recognized government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
The government — with local, regional and international support — would eventually bring an end to the turmoil created by the Houthis, Saleh said.
Military operations are aimed at stopping Houthi crimes against Yemen and its people, and building a federal state comprising six provinces in accordance with the National Dialogue Conference resolutions, he added.
A Yemeni military source said the army had liberated the areas of Haid bin Aqeel and Hajjar-Kahlan as it advances toward Wadi Khar next to Al-Baidah province, the SPA reported.
The source said the army had seized weaponry and ammunition left behind by fleeing militias.
The army’s engineering teams have begun clearing mines and explosives in the liberated areas in the Behan region of Shabwa province.
Abdul Raqib Fatah, Yemen’s local administration minister and head of the Higher Committee for Relief, said many displaced residents of Sanaa and neighboring provinces occupied by the Houthis had fled to government-controlled areas due to the militias’ brutality.
He renewed the government’s request for UN relief and humanitarian organizations to move to Aden so they can continue their work without Houthi interference and under international standards and protocols.
Houthi interference in relief operations is preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the needy, Fatah said.