AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s internationally recognized government mourned the death of Col. Mohammed Al-Sulaihi, a government liaison officer who was shot by a Houthi sniper in Hodeidah.
Information Minister Muammar Al-Aryani said Al-Sulaihi succumbed to his wounds at a hospital in Aden on Friday.
Al-Aryani urged the UN mission that monitors the truce in Hodeidah to condemn Houthi violations there.
“This reaffirms that the Houthis disrespect all agreements … and can’t be a peace partner,” he tweeted on Friday.
The government quit the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) that sponsors the UN-brokered truce in the western province of Hodeidah, and vowed not to rejoin it until UN observers force the Houthis to stop attacks on the government’s observation posts.
On Saturday, the UN’s Yemen Envoy Martin Griffiths condemned the attack. “My deepest condolences for the tragic death of Col. Al-Sulaihi to the government of Yemen and his family,” Griffiths tweeted.
He will be remembered for his service in support of bringing peace to his country.
Martin Griffiths, UN’s Yemen envoy
“He was shot in Hodeidah in a deplorable and unacceptable attack. He will be remembered for his service in support of bringing peace to his country.”
The government canceled a major military offensive on the city of Hodeidah in 2018 in exchange for the Houthis withdrawing from its seaports, opening roads, defusing landmines and stopping the shelling of government forces.
A woman and two children were killed on Friday when the Houthis shelled their homes in the central province of Al-Bayda, Yemen’s official news agency reported.
The Houthis shelled residential areas in Al-Bayda’s Al-Soma’a district, killing the three civilians and injuring several others.
Fighting has been raging in Al-Bayda since early last week when government forces launched an offensive to recapture areas held by the Houthis.
In the central province of Marib, hundreds of people attended on Friday the funeral of Col. Murad Mohammed Al-Thalya, a military commander who was killed fighting the Houthis on Wednesday.
