Houthis shelled Taiz as international attempts to renew the truce intensified

Several artillery shells launched by the Houthis hit Yemen’s Taiz on Tuesday, as foreign mediators, envoys, and relief groups stepped up attempts to persuade both sides to restore the UN-brokered truce.

Residents and officials in Taiz reported multiple explosions triggered by Houthi artillery in the city’s eastern outskirts.

According to Yemeni officials, the strike is the latest in a string of breaches of the UN-brokered truce.

According to Abdul Basit Al-Baher, a Yemeni military official in Taiz, a Houthi sniper targeted a civilian in the same location east of Taiz where the militia’s tanks and other heavy weaponry were pounding residential neighborhoods.

“The Houthi heavy fire and sniper attacks have not stopped during the truce,” Al-Baher said, adding that the militia recently deployed more snipers and created new military posts.

Read More: Yemeni army reports 4,276 Houthi truce violations

“People did not go to mosques during last Friday’s prayer out of fear of being hit by Houthi snipers,” Al-Baher said.

The Houthis have been in control of Taiz’s outskirts for the past seven years, and have imposed a choking siege that has pushed thousands of people into famine.

As part of the truce, discussions between the Yemeni government and the Houthis in Amman to open roads in Taiz have so far failed.

A new round of discussions between both sides is taking place on Wednesday, a member of the Yemeni government delegation told Arab News.

The latest Houthi mortar attack on Taiz came as the UN envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, western diplomats, and aid organizations stepped up pressure on the Yemeni government and the Houthis to renew the truce.

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