Saudis strike in response to Houthi Scud attack as forgotten war rages on

Saudi warplanes bombed targets in the Yemeni capital Sana’a on Thursday after Houthi rebels fired a Scud missile at an airbase across the border in a sudden escalation of a war that is taking a mounting toll on civilians.

Reports from Sana’a said airstrikes targeted missile launchers after a Scud impacted near Khamis Mushayt, close to a major Saudi air force base. The UN deputy secretary general, Jan Eliasson, said there was a “desperate need” to end the conflict and hoped peace talks could resume by the end of the month.

Seven months of strikes by the Saudi-led coalition and fighting on the ground have killed 5,300 Yemenis including at least 2,400 civilians, according to the WHO. The coalition is fighting the Iran-backed Houthis to drive them from Sana’a and other areas they captured last year, and to restore the internationally recognised president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Iranian media reported that the Houthis had also shot down a Saudi F16 fighter and captured its pilot, but there was no confirmation from Riyadh. The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, pledged that the nine-member coalition, which includes the UAE, “will stand together until Yemenregains its Arab identity and is liberated from aggressors”.

Yemen’s suffering is overshadowed by the larger and more familiar conflict in Syria and complicated by the way it is seen as a proxy war between the Saudis and Iran, whose long-standing strategic rivalry is overlain by a Sunni-Shia sectarian division. “Denying that Iran is backing the Houthis in Yemen is like denying that the sun rises in the east,” Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, commented this week.

The Saudis are supported by their allies the US and Britain, which provide military equipment and intelligence support. But there is growing disquiet in both the Foreign Office and US State Department about Riyadh’s strategy and civilian casualties, diplomats admit privately.

Yemen, with a population of 23 million people, was the poorest country in the Arab world long before the removal of its veteran president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, after popular protests in 2011. Now it is experiencing what Oxfam calls the world’s largest “forgotten emergency

Aid agencies say a key issue is the Saudi blockade of all major ports and airports, which means food imports struggle to get through and famine looms, with 13 million people already defined as “food insecure” and 21 million people in need of assistance.

In Taiz in the Yemeni highlands, Houthi and allied forces loyal to Saleh are preventing the passage of food, fuel and water, in addition to the Saudi-led naval blockade. Drinking water is not available and is being sold on the black market, prompting outbreaks of dengue fever, according to the charity Saferworld.

A US navy report said this week that coalition warships off the Red Sea port of Hodeida have warned commercial vessels to stay clear of operational areas but a coalition spokesman said inspections were needed to stop attempts to smuggle weapons to Houthi forces.

The Saudis say they need a stable neighbour to their south and reject accusationsthat they are committing war crimes. “As the coalition seeks to restore the legitimate Yemeni government and free the Yemeni people from a rebel scourge, it will do everything in its power to avoid injuring civilians,” insisted its ambassador in London.

The coalition’s goal is to simply bring peace and order to Yemen. Any accusation that civilians are being intentionally targeted by the coalition is simply propaganda being disseminated by those who are using Yemen as a staging ground for their violent, revolutionary agenda.”

But Yemenis have watched in despair as the war has raged on with horrific consequences before and after UN talks in June. Recent efforts in the Omani capital, Muscat, produced a seven-point plan which it is hoped will allow a new round to go ahead after the Houthis signalled their agreement.

“Hadi refuses to talk even though the Houthis have had enough and want a face-saving solution,” a former Yemeni minister told the Guardian. “The destruction we are seeing is unimaginable. How long will this war go on?”

Eliasson called for both the Houthis and Hadi to attend the talks without pre-conditions but warned of “the deep mistrust that exists between key actors, not least Saudi and UAE on one side and Iran on the other”

Peter Salisbury, an associate fellow with Chatham House, said agreement to talk was only the beginning. “When that has been made there a number of very difficult hurdles to cross, including the location and the basic parameters for the negotiations,” he said. “Things could fall apart before they get down to business.”

The basis for talks is UN security council resolution 2216, which demands the Houthis withdraw from all areas they have captured, relinquish arms seized from state military and security bodies and cease all actions falling within the authority of the legitimate government.

Saudi officials say implementation of the resolution would end the war. Critics counter that its demands for disarmament and withdrawal will need to be interpreted flexibly if a deal is to be done. “The difficulty is that the resolution was far too favourable to the Saudis,” said Ibrahim Fraihat of the Brookings Doha Centre. “It was a a big victory for them but it makes it very hard for the international community to back off.”

He added: “There is no shortage of diplomatic activity. The problem is that there is a stalemate on the ground. The Saudis are not making serious progress and they are stuck in Marib and Taiz. The Houthis and Saleh are not able to change the status quo. Neither side is willing to move. The Saudis are unlikely to make serious concessions on Yemen because their concern is about Iranian influence – though that is an exaggerated fear.