EU warns about 'dramatic escalation of hostilities' in Yemen

The European Union has expressed concerns about escalating tensions in Yemen, saying the crisis gripping the impoverished country needs a political solution not a military approach.

In a statement released on Thursday, Maja Kocijancic, the EU spokeswoman for foreign affairs and security policy, said Yemen has witnessed "a dramatic escalation of hostilities" in the past few weeks, resulting in many casualties and civilian infrastructure damage.

"This escalation runs against the commitment of all sides to a political solution of the conflict in Yemen and feeds into a vicious cycle of successive retaliations that risks to undermine the efforts of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths and put the resumption of peace talks in jeopardy," the statement read.

"There is no military solution to the conflict in Yemen. Only a negotiated, political solution through an inclusive process can put an end to the conflict and restore hope for stability and peace in the country and the region," it added.

The EU further supported a Wednesday statement by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the conflict in Yemen.

Guterres reminded the parties to the Yemen crisis that "a negotiated political settlement through inclusive intra-Yemeni dialogue is the only way to end the conflict and address the ongoing humanitarian crisis."

Calling on all sides to refrain from further escalation, he noted that all potential violations of international humanitarian law should be thoroughly investigated.

PressTV-Saudi-led raids kill entire families in Yemen

The entire members of two Yemeni families are killed in separate Saudi Arabian-led airstrikes on residential areas in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a war on Yemen in March 2015 in support of Yemen’s former Riyadh-friendly government and against the Houthi Ansarullah movement

The military campaign has killed and injured over 600,000 civilians, according to the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights.

Several Western countries, the US and the UK in particular, are accused of being complicit in the aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment.

Yemeni forces regularly target positions inside Saudi Arabia in retaliatory attacks against the Riyadh-led military operation.

Saudi Arabia tests alarm system

In another development on Thursday, Saudi Arabia tested a new siren system for the capital, Riyadh, and Eastern Province, amid retaliatory missile strikes from Yemen.

The Saudi civil defense said in a statement that the system was designed to "face risks of all kinds" and alert the population "in case of emergency."

It also posted a video on its website showing the testing of the new siren system.

The Yemeni army and allied popular fighters from the Houthi Ansarullah movement have launched a number of missile attacks on economic and other targets deep within the Saudi soil in retaliation for the devastating war that has been launched by Riyadh on its southern neighbor since March 2015.

On Sunday, Yemeni forces fired a domestically-manufactured Zalzal-2 (Earthquake 2) ballistic missile at the Ain al-Thwareen base in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Asir region.

Last month, Houthi fighters fired two Badr 1-type ballistic missiles at a Saudi Aramco facility in Saudi Arabia's Jizan Province. They also targeted Jizan airport in with a missile strike.

Back in March, Yemen’s military targeted King Khalid International Airport north of Riyadh and as well as Abha, Najran and Jizan regional airports with ballistic missiles.

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