New Yourk (South24, Rueters)

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned an escalation in fighting in Yemen’s Marib, calling for the Houthis to end an offensive on the government’s last northern stronghold, and expressed that a lack of progress in the peace process could be exploited by terrorists in Yemen.

In a statement, the 15-member council also condemned cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia and said the escalation in Marib “threatens efforts to secure a political settlement when the international community is increasingly united to end the conflict.”

A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthi group ousted the country’s government from the capital Sanaa. The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system.

Since taking office in January, U.S. President Joe Biden has made Yemen a priority and appointed special envoy Tim Lenderking to help revive stalled U.N. efforts to end the conflict. Lenderking said on Friday that a ceasefire plan was before the Houthi leadership and urged them to respond.

The U.N. Security Council, which was briefed on Yemen on Tuesday, “stressed the need for de-escalation by all, including an immediate end to the Houthi escalation in Marib.”

U.N. Yemen mediator Martin Griffiths warned on Tuesday that the war in Yemen was “back in full force.” Both Griffiths and U.N. aid chief Mark Lowcock also said that commercial fuel imports into Hodeidah port had been blocked since January and urged the government to allow deliveries.

The Security Council called on all parties to come together and work with the UN Special Envoy to negotiate, without preconditions, a nationwide ceasefire and a Yemeni-led and owned, inclusive, political settlement, which includes the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women, as well as the participation of youth, in accordance with past resolutions.

The UN Council expressed concern that a lack of progress in the peace process could be exploited by terrorists in Yemen and called for accountability for human rights violations and abuses, and violations of international humanitarian law. 

Read more at: The resurgence of terrorist groups in South Yemen and STC calls for support

On Thursday, Al-Qaeda militants attacked a security point of the Security Belt forces of the Southern Transitional Council (STC), in Abyan Governorate, South Yemen. The attack killed 12 people, including five civilians, and injured children.

Also on Thursday, a member of the STC Presidiumand the Minister of Civil Service and Insurance in the new government were subjected to a failed assassination attempt, with an explosive device, in Aden.

Against the background of these deadly attacks, the  STC in Yemen called on "the regional and international coalition to combat terrorism to provide the necessary support to continue our common war against terrorism and its groups and to cleanse Aden and South in general of its criminal cells."