by Murad Abdo
ADEN, Yemen, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Postponement of withdrawing Yemeni warring-sides from the strategic port city of Hodeidah has raised the specter of resumption of fighting as heavy reinforcements were pushed to the war-ravaged Rea Sea city.
The first phase of the United Nations plan to withdraw forces affiliated to both warring parties was undermined and postponed several times just hours before the implementation, sparking fears of military fighting escalation following a short peace period.
Local residents said that both warring sides continued to push reinforcements to Hodeidah instead of preparing to withdraw as planned by the UN agreement declared in Sweden in December 2018.
One of the residents in Houthi-controlled areas in Hodeidah said that Houthis started to recruit and train scores of young fighters from the city, signaling that a new phase of violence might occur.
"Many young boys who are still studying their secondary school programs were forced to join military training camps manned by the Houthis," the resident said on anonymity.
"Houthis are still establishing military camps in Hodeidah despite their fake announcement to withdraw from the city through media reports," he said.
He added that "Houthis' withdrawal from Hodeidah will not happen because they are still planting hundreds of landmines as well as encouraging local people to fight."
Other local residents in government-controlled areas in Hodeidah confirmed to Xinhua that newly-recruited soldiers backed by military armored vehicles arrived on Hodeidah's outskirts.
"No signs show that withdrawal of forces might take place in the next days because we are still witnessing arrival of new army batches," a Hodeidah-based resident said on anonymity.
He said that "a number of military training camps belonging to the government forces are still recruiting fighters arriving from southern provinces like Lahj, Aden and Abyan."
Hodeidah-based residents confirmed that both warring sides don't intend to implement the first phase of withdrawal from Hodeidah and all warring forces prepare for a new round of violence.
Yemeni military experts said that failure to implement the UN's plan and withdrawing warring forces might lead to escalation of fighting between the two warring rivals, blocking all peace efforts.
Mosin Naji, Aden-based military expert, said that "failure in pulling warring sides from Hodeidah means that all efforts aimed at creating peace were not effective and failed to achieve temporary peace."
"Many serious problems might come out if fighting resumes in Hodeidah because thousands of people there are besieged and need urgent humanitarian support," he said.
He added that "the international community should increase pressure on leaders of the warring factions and prevent any attempts of escalation because the situation in Hodeidah reached unbearable stage."
Mohammed Yahya, officer of the Fourth Regional Military Command based in Aden, said that withdrawal of warring-sides from Yemen's Hodeidah may succeed only by using influence of regional countries.
"The battles in Hodeidah erupted according to orders from regional countries and any withdrawal will succeed only if those countries are willing to achieve peace," he said.
He added that "all the leaders of warring-sides don't push forward or withdraw from the frontlines without receiving instructions from their supporting countries."
On Monday, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels refused to withdraw from two Hodeidah's ports, hindering a peace deal brokered by the UN in Stockholm last year.
Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea told Xinhua that the Houthi forces will not withdraw until specifying a date for the withdrawal of their foe Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces from around the port city.
Earlier this week, the rebels announced that they will begin to pull back their forces 5 km from the ports of Saleef, which is used for importing grains, and Ras Isa, an oil terminal for exporting Marib crude oil.
For the second phase of withdrawal, Houthi forces will withdraw 1 km from Hodeidah's main port, while the coalition-backed government forces will retreat 1 km from Kilo 7 area in the eastern suburbs of the port city, according to the UN-brokered peace plan.
The government forces have advanced into the southern and eastern outskirts of Hodeidah, after battles against the Houthi rebels over the past five months.
The withdrawal plan came under the supervision of a UN-led cease-fire monitoring team headed by Michael Lollesgaard, who is in Hodeidah.
Hodeidah is the main lifeline entry of commercial imports and humanitarian aid to two-thirds of the Yemeni population.
Stockholm peace deal aims to avoid the lifeline port city an all-out assault by the Saudi-led coalition forces and place it under the UN supervision.
The deal seeks to save more than 20 million Yemenis from sliding into major starvation.
The civil war has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
