After failure to extend truce, Yemeni government accuses Houthis of blackmail

By Shukri Hussein

SANAA, Yemen (AA) - The Yemeni government has accused the Iran-backed Houthi group of dealing with the truce as an "opportunity to blackmail and put Iran's interests ahead of the interests of the Yemeni people."

"The Houthis treated the truce as an opportunity for blackmail, and putting Iran's interests ahead of the interests of the Yemeni people," the official Saba News Agency cited Abdullah Al-Alimi, a member of the Presidential Leadership Council, as saying on Sunday evening.

Al-Alimi called on the international community to "take a more serious and clear stance towards the Houthis."

The Houthi group did not immediately comment on the government's accusations.

Earlier on Sunday, the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, expressed his regret that an agreement had not been reached to extend the truce in the country.

In April, Yemen’s warring rivals agreed to a UN-brokered two-month truce under which all military operations were halted. The truce agreement was extended twice.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including Sanaa.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi contributed to this report