Yemenis hold nationwide rallies to mark 8th anniversary of Saudi-led war
SANAA - Millions of people have taken to the streets in several Yemeni cities and provinces to mark the eighth anniversary of Saudi Arabia's brutal war against the impoverished country.
The mass protests took place in many cities and provinces including the capital Sanaa, Saada and Taizz on Sunday. Protesters called for an end to military aggression and the brutal blockade of Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition.
They held placards and shouted slogans against US policy as they gathered in the city's main squares to denounce the Saudi war and vowed to continue their resistance to the aggressors.
The rallies came a day after the leader of Yemen's Ansarullah resistance movement, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, called on Yemenis to hold mass protests to mark the eighth year of the resistance.
In Sana'a and Saada, large numbers of residents took to the streets and shouted slogans in support of the country's resistance to the attackers, Yemeni TV station al-Masirah reported.
In other provinces, including Ta'izz, Hajah, al-Jawf, Ibb and al-Bayda, people gathered in the main squares to demonstrate their continued resistance to the attackers.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council, has sent a message to the Saudi-led coalition saying that if they intend to leave Yemen, "the way is open to it".
Al-Houthi noted that military progress and government unity are among the signs of Yemen's stability and the resistance of its people.
He also emphasized that the Ansarullah resistance movement has never set an impossible condition for peace, saying, "This coalition is an aggressor that has no real vision and plan for peace and we want real peace, not show or propaganda. "
The Yemeni official went on to say that everyone is aware that the US is the main reason behind the aggression against Yemen. He also stressed that the only way to peace is to lift the blockade on Yemen and drive the enemy out of the country.
Saudi Arabia launched a devastating war against Yemen in March 2015 in cooperation with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the United States and other Western countries.
The goal was to crush the popular Ansarullah movement, which has run state affairs in the absence of a functioning government in Yemen, and reinstate Abed Rabbo Mansur Hadi's pro-Riyadh regime.
While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to achieve any of its goals, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and sparked the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
