The UN warns of a risk of all-out war in Yemen following Houthi strikes

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday called for an immediate de-escalation in Yemen, where Houthi rebels broke the 2022 truce and intensified their attacks, killing dozens of soldiers and civilians.

Fifty-eight members of Yemeni government forces have been killed in Houthi attacks, primarily in the oil-rich province of Marib, according to a military source. These offensives, described as the deadliest in years, began in early August after the Iranian-backed rebels broke the 2022 ceasefire agreement with the Saudi-backed government.

In response to this new outbreak of violence, Volker Türk spoke out on Monday. "I urge all parties to immediately cease any actions that risk plunging Yemen back into a general conflict," the High Commissioner for Human Rights declared. He reiterated that the Yemeni people had "already suffered far too much from the devastating consequences of years of conflict, displacement, and humanitarian crisis."

The civilian death toll is rising as the fighting spreads. Two civilians were killed in Houthi shelling of residential areas and camps for displaced people in Marib. Since August 6, the UN human rights office has documented at least seven civilians killed and ten wounded in government-controlled areas.

The attacks are not limited to land areas. On August 9, Houthi missiles and drones struck the port of Mokha on the Red Sea, killing three dockworkers and wounding four others. Two days later, an attack on a cargo ship in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait killed four crew members—three Pakistanis and one Indonesian—according to the UN office.

Civilian infrastructure was also targeted, including fuel storage facilities and a residential complex adjacent to the Saudi field hospital in Mokha. "Attacks on civilian infrastructure risk further exacerbating the suffering of civilians, at a time when at least 18 million Yemenis are already facing food insecurity," Türk warned, adding that "these attacks must stop immediately."

Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war for over a decade. The country, the poorest in the Arabian Peninsula, found itself last month at the heart of the conflict involving Iran, of which the Houthis are one of the main regional proxies.