Saeed Al-Batati

AL-MUKALLA: The Yemeni government’s top official has accused the Houthis of undermining peace efforts to end the conflict.

Chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council Rashad Al-Alimi said the Houthis were “dashing” hopes for stability by refusing to extend the UN-brokered truce that ended on Oct. 2, rejecting a plan to pay public employees in regions under their control, and continuing to plunder public revenues.

Al-Alimi, who returned to Aden on Tuesday following a regional and international tour, reiterated his focus on addressing the country’s challenges, which include a decaying economy and poor public services.

He said he and his colleagues in government will work “tirelessly” to alleviate Yemenis’ suffering, rebuild the economy and establish peace in the country.

He tweeted: “I and my brothers in the council and the government will work diligently to address those demands, and we will keep the promise we made to our people at home and abroad until our people’s objectives and ambitions are realized everywhere.”

He added: “The Houthi militia has dashed our people’s hopes for peace and stability, primarily by refusing to expand the truce and pay our downtrodden people’s salaries in places under their control.”

The truce, which began on April 2 and was twice extended, broke down earlier this month after the Houthis refused to renew it unless the Yemeni government paid all of the public employees in the regions under their control.

They also rejected suggestions for opening highways in Taiz.

Al-Alimi has recently visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany and the US, where he met Arab and Western officials to discuss ways to achieve peace in Yemen, and to lobby for financial assistance.

Many Yemenis blame the eight-member presidential council for failing to control the plummeting rial, the rise in food and commodity prices, and not restoring calm in some liberated areas.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s army has reported the Houthis attacked its position on Han Mountain, west of Taiz, on Monday evening, setting off heavy fighting that lasted until early Tuesday.

Similar fierce confrontations took place on Tuesday in the province of Dhale, where government troops mounted a counterattack against the Houthis in Fakher and other areas.

The Houthis have been unable to gain any new ground despite carrying out heavy shelling and ground assaults.

Fighting has been sporadic in the past six months, following the ceasefire, and significantly lighter than in previous years.