Cairo, Sept 17. (dpa/GNA) – US government representatives have held direct talks with representatives of the Houthi militia, amid renewed fighting in Yemen, dpa learned from diplomatic sources in Riyadh on Thursday.
At the meeting in the US embassy in Oman, the Houthis gave assurances that they would not attack US or Israeli vessels in the area around the Bab al-Mandab strait in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the sources said.
The militia had previously announced a “blockade” targeting Saudi ships and subsequently attacked several Saudi vessels, or forced them to change course. Saudi Arabia has come under heavy fire, since hostilities broke out again between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed internationally recognized government in Yemen several weeks ago.
One person was killed in an alleged Houthi attack in the Saudi city of Taif, located around 100 kilometres from the holy Muslim city of Mecca, the first known fatality since the latest outbreak.
Two further people were injured. Buildings and vehicles were also damaged, the Saudi civil defence authority said.
Civilians in Saudi Arabia have repeatedly been killed or injured in attacks over the course of Yemen’s more than 10-year-old civil war.
Saudi Arabia’s leadership was seeking greater US military support in repelling the attacks, diplomatic sources in Riyadh said.
US representatives had also briefed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the talks with the Houthis, they said.
Meanwhile, Saudi fighter jets continued to strike targets in Yemen, according to the Houthis. Two people were injured in a strike on a radio mast in Taiz province, the Houthi television channel Al-Masirah reported.
Yemeni government figures said clashes are also taking place in Marib, al-Jawf, Hajjah and other parts of the country.
GNA