Yemen’s warring sides gear up for conflict in 2023 amid stalled peace talks

Aden : Yemen’s warring parties are gearing up for new waves of conflict in 2023 amid lack of decisive steps towards sustainable peace, adding to the sufferings of millions of people living in the war-ravaged Arab country.
A horrific eight-year-old conflict has ravaged Yemen since the Houthi rebel militia attacked the country’s state institutions in Sanaa and the presidential compound in September 2014, triggering one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, Xinhua news agency reported.
During 2022, several rounds of negotiations between Yemen’s government and the Houthis, which were held under the auspices of the UN, brought a fragile cease-fire for several months.
The UN-brokered humanitarian cease-fire had first come into effect on April 2, 2022, and was renewed several times. However, the warring parties failed to reach an agreement to extend the deal in October.
After the cease-fire expired, the Houthis intensified their operations and started attacking the country’s economic facilities, particularly oil ports controlled by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in Hadramout and other neighbouring provinces.
The Houthis repeatedly hit with explosive-laden drones key government-controlled oil ports, including Dhabah in Hadramout, and vowed to to carry out more attacks in the future. The attacks have made it difficult for Yemeni government to export crude oil.