TAEZ, YEMEN // Houthi rebels in Yemen said on Wednesday they will return to UN-sponsored talks on condition that the Saudi-led coalition completely end its attacks.
Their demands came as the alliance launched renewed their air campaign on Wednesday, one day after declaring its month-long campaign was over.
The Saudi-led coalition had announced on Tuesday night that the first phase of its “successful” bombing campaign had finished and that it was now focusing on political efforts.
But it warned it would be ready to counter any advance by the rebels and their allies.
And it did when the Houthis used the pause in airstrikes on Wednesday to launch a full-scale attack on the only military brigade not under their control in Taez, according to three Houthi officials.
By 9am local time, the 35th Armoured Brigade was under militant control. However, ten minutes later, seven Saudi airstrikes targeted Houthi positions inside and around the brigade, loyal to to Mr Hadi. Clashes between both sides resumed leaving “dozens dead and wounded”, said an army officer.
In Aden, a Saudi airstrike targeted a Houthi gathering area near the Aden coasts on Wednesday but the strikes halted after that. Clashes also broke out in Mansoora of Aden as southerners tried to force the Houthis out of the district.
In neighbouring Lahj province, Saudi airstrikes targeted Houthi positions in Al Whaht district. Two Houthis were killed in those airstrikes, said local officials.
However, rebels remain in control of Sanaa and swathes of the country.
The capital experienced a brief halt in strikes until evening, when fresh air attacks from the coalition targeted the Attan military depot.
In Hadramout, two US drone strikes killed six suspected militants from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Mukalla. The attack was the second in three days. On Monday, six AQAP militants were killed when drone strikes targeted their two vehicles.
In their first statement since the coalition announcement, the Shiite rebels demanded a complete halt to the alliance’s attacks as a condition for UN-sponsored talks.
“We demand, after a complete end to the aggression against Yemen and the lifting of the blockade, to resume political dialogue ... under the sponsorship of the United Nations,” said spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam.
UN-brokered talks between the warring parties broke down in February when Mr Hadi fled to Aden after the Houthis seized power in the capital.
In a televised speech from Riyadh where he is in exile, Mr Hadi on Wednesday morning praised the anti Houthi movements and vowed to continue supporting them. “We thank all military leaders who stood against the Houthis and stayed loyal to the constitution leaders. We promise to restructure the Yemen military to ensure that it serves the people of Yemen,” said Mr Hadi.
“You will witness many changes in the days to come in our mission to build an institutional government and military, far from rebel militancy,” he added.
He called on all sides to work to implement a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council last week which imposed an arms embargo on the rebels but “which paves the way for positive and effective dialogue”.
The White House said on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia’s transition away from military operations in Yemen will open the opportunity for negotiations.
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said that there will be no military solution to problems in Yemen, calling for the resumption of all-party negotiations.
Mr Hadi’s ousted predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has provided key support to the Shiite rebels, said he hoped the halt to the air war would lead to a return to dialogue.
“We hope that everyone will cooperate to return to dialogue, to find solutions other than placing losing bets that are wrong and costly,” he said.
Army units which remained loyal to Mr Saleh after he was ousted in 2012 have provided crucial support to the rebels in their advance across much of the country.
In an apparent goodwill gesture, the rebels freed three top commanders – including defence minister General Mahmud Al Subaihi and a brother of Mr Hadi – whom they had captured during the fighting over the past month, mediators said.
Iran offered its help in bringing the sides back to the negotiating table.
“Positive developments in Yemen should be followed by urgent humanitarian assistance, intra-Yemeni dialogue & broad-based govt. Ready to help,” foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted from New York.
* Agence France-Presse and Reuters, with additional reporting from Hakim Almasmari in Sanaa
