Air strikes by Saudi-led forces killed 30 civilians in an attack on a market in northern Yemen on Sunday, the Houthi-run news agency Saba said, as U.N. mediators pushed for a humanitarian pause in fighting that has killed nearly 3,000 since March.This recent incident took place amid UN efforts to broker a humanitarian pause in the fighting that has claimed 3,000 lives since March. The pause, intended to allow deliveries of humanitarian aid, is planned to last until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on July 17.Ould Cheikh Ahmed was due to travel to Sanaa on Sunday for talks with the Houthis, after discussions in Muscat, Oman.Political sources in Muscat said Saudi-led forces had demanded guarantees that the Houthis and allied army units would not use the pause to keep advancing on areas held by forces allied or loyal to Hadi in south and eastern Yemen.The Saudis see growing Iranian influence everywhere, to the north in Iraq and Syria, to the east in its own country and in Bahrain, and now pointedly to the south in Yemen. However, will this war actually provide fruitful results? The Saudis are overemphasising the role of Iran, and is unlikely to lead to anything approaching a successful conclusion. The immense damage done to Yemen’s weak infrastructure has created considerable bad blood between Yemenis and their rich Gulf neighbours that will poison relations for years. The Saudis hope they can rally enough Yemenis against the Houthis to build an army. But even if this approach gains momentum, it will only lead to a brutal civil war in Yemen much like Libya, Syria and Iraq in which Al-Qaeda and its offshoots will be the main beneficiaries.
pk.shafaqna.com
Suffering from Iranophobia: Saudia paving way for civil war in Yemen
