DUBAI - The collapse of UN efforts to organise peace talks between the Yemeni government and rebels is likely to lead to an escalation in the country’s war, analysts say.
Long-awaited talks between the Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels linked to Iran were set to start Thursday but failed to take place.
The Huthis, armed tribesmen from northern Yemen, refused to leave Sanaa to attend the talks, saying the UN had failed to guarantee the return of their delegation from Geneva to the Yemeni capital and to secure the evacuation of wounded rebels to Oman.
With hopes of political conciliation dashed, experts fear both the rebels and Saudi-backed troops will turn to more violence.
“We will almost certainly see a military escalation, as the initial failure of Geneva will deepen the Saudi-led coalition’s conviction that only further losses on the battlefield will cause the Huthis to compromise,” said Graham Griffith, senior analyst at the UAE-based consultancy Control Risks. “However, the military campaign is likely to be hampered by the additional scrutiny the coalition is facing over its conduct in the war,” he added.
The Saudi-led coalition has drawn heavy international criticism for the high civilian death toll from its more than three-year-old bombing campaign in Yemen. (AFP)