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PAKISTAN’S parliament decided yesterday not to join the Saudi-led coalition fighting against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, instead adopting a resolution calling on the warring parties to resolve the conflict through peaceful dialogue.
After days of debate, MPs unanimously voted in favour of a resolution which stated that “the parliament desires that Pakistan should maintain neutrality in the Yemen conflict so as to be able to play a proactive diplomatic role to end the crisis.”
Pakistan has been riven with debate about getting involved in Yemen’s increasingly sectarian conflict and a Saudi-Iran proxy war in the region.
Since the Saudi-led coalition launched the aerial campaign more than two weeks ago, pro-Saudi groups have rallied across Pakistan, urging Islamabad to join the coalition. But the parliament resisted and also urged Muslim countries and the international community to intensify efforts to promote peace in Yemen. It called on Pakistan’s envoys to “initiate steps” at the UN security council “to bring about an immediate ceasefire in Yemen.”
Despite the air strikes, the Houthis and their allies, forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, have been advancing on the ground. On Thursday, they captured Ataq, the capital of oil-rich Shabwa province, after days of clashes with local tribes.The rebel forces have seized 10 of Yemen’s 21 provinces, including the capital, Sanaa, and are advancing on the port of Aden.
Aden has been subjected to fierce bombardments by Saudi air forces which reached a new high yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross and the UN flew medical aid into the capital.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had dispatched an aircraft to Sanaa, its first aid shipment since the Saudi assault began.
“This is the first ICRC plane to have landed in Sanaa. It is loaded with 16 tons of medical aid,” said Red Cross spokeswoman Marie Claire Feghali.
The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that at least 643 civilians and combatants had been killed since March 19. At least 2,226 have been wounded and another 100,000 have fled their homes.
by Our Foreign Desk
