Hodeidah Governor: Houthis Recently Recruited 1,000 Child Soldiers
Hodeidah governor al-Hassan Taher accused on Friday Houthi
militias of recently deploying around 1,000 child soldiers on the northern
front of the Yemeni province.
In a telephone call with Asharq Al-Awsat, the governor said
that since the arrival of Dutch General Patrick Cammaert in Hodeidah,
“government apparatuses have documented a rising level of violations” of the
Stockholm Agreement.
Cammaert chairs the Redeployment Coordination Committee
tasked with implementing the provisions of the Swedish agreement struck last
month between Yemen’s warring sides.
According to the governor, Houthis are bringing new
fighters, mainly about 1,000 children, to the city.
“Militias have also worked on redeploying their fighters in
several positions in Hodeidah,” Taher said, adding that lately, Houthis have
failed to recruit children from the province and the Tihama region, where
residents strongly disapprove of the militias’ plans.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni government stressed on Friday its
keenness on implementing the Stockholm Agreement.
"This does not mean our support and cooperation are
unconditioned, rather it is conditioned by implementing the agreement fully in
accordance with correct explanations understood by the whole world and approved
by Yemeni law and supported by the UN Security Council," Director of the
Presidential Office and Deputy Head of the Government Delegation in Sweden
Consultations, Dr. Abdullah al-Alimi said, according to the Saba news agency.
He made it clear that 37 days after the declaration of the
Stockholm Agreement and 32 days after the arrival of Commaert to Yemen, the
situation has not changed.
"Until now, we have not got any timetabled mechanism
for implementing the agreement," Alimi said.
He stressed that continued military mobilization by the
insurgents, digging trenches, hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid and
daily arrests of opponents are clear signs that Houthis reject peace efforts.
