Russia calls for diplomatic solution to Yemen conflict
 

MOSCOW: Russia on Monday called for an end to fighting in Yemen, saying there could be no military solution to the nearly four-year war between Huthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government.
Russia halted its diplomatic presence in Yemen last month because of the deepening conflict and Moscow has previously expressed concern about strikes by the Saudi-led coalition. "There is no alternative but to end armed conflict as soon as possible in Yemen and it is essential that those taking part in the conflict renounce their attempts to resolve existing problems by force," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow with his Yemeni counterpart Abdulmalik al-Mekhlafi.
Moscow would engage with all sides to help the situation "move from a military scenario to a political dialogue," Lavrov said. The Yemeni foreign minister said "the legitimate government of Yemen, in common with the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia, supports a peaceful solution," in comments translated into Russian.
"War was not our choice, war was imposed on us," he said. Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 with the stated aim of rolling back Huthi rebel gains and restoring the country´s "legitimate" government to power.
More than 9,200 people have been killed since the intervention. Another nearly 2,200 Yemenis have died of cholera amid deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions, according to the World Health Organisation.
Over the past year, the United Nations´ efforts to address what it has described as the world´s worst humanitarian crisis have been hampered by a crippling blockade of rebel-held ports by the Saudi-led coalition.
Meanwhile, Huthi rebel rocket fire killed nine people, including a journalist and a child, in Yemen´s southwest province of Taez on Monday, a government official said. A barrage of six rockets rained down during the opening of a new security facility in the town of Nashma, killing four soldiers and five civilians, the official told AFP.
The deputy interior minister of Yemen´s internationally-recognised government, as well as dozens of local residents, were in attendance, he said. Yemen´s Belqees TV confirmed the killing of its cameraman Mohammed al-Qudsi, in a statement on its website, blaming "Huthi shelling".
Taez, the provincial capital of the same name, is held by forces loyal to the government. But much of its surroundings is in the hands of the Iran-backed insurgents and it has been a key battleground in the war.
More than 9,200 people have been killed in Yemen since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition intervened with the aim of pushing the Huthis from Sanaa and restoring the government to power.
The Huthis, however, have only hardened their grip on the capital after gunning down their former ally, ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Almost another 2,200 Yemenis have died of cholera and 53 of diphtheria amid deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions, the World Health Organisation says.
The Saudi-led coalition on Monday announced $1.5 billion in new humanitarian aid for Yemen, after the United Nations issued what it called a record appeal for assistance for the war-ravaged country.The coalition also said it would also "increase the capacities of Yemeni ports to receive humanitarian" imports, as it faces mounting criticism for imposing a crippling blockade on the country.

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