The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Monday ongoing violence in Yemen shortly after an alleged Sunni suicide bomber killed 47 people at a Shiite Houthi protest on 9 October.
In a ministry statement released Monday, Egyptian authorities condemned “recent violence that occurred in the capital Sanaa and in the city of Mukalla in Hadramout province [which] claimed the lives of a number of Yemeni people and elements of the Yemeni police and armed forces”.
The spike in violence comes shortly after armed Shiite Houthi militias took control over vital government institutions in September. The takeover came as part of a push to exert more control over the troubled Yemeni government, which saw the ousting of Ali Abdullah Saleh in late 2011.
In the face of rising sectarian tensions between the Sunni majority and Shiite Houthi minority, the ministry’s statement demanded that the Yemeni people “rise above their doctrinal and sectarian loyalties”. It also asked for them to “rally around their homeland to work to maintain unity and the creation of a better future” for them and their children.
The foreign ministry statement also urged the rival groups to accelerate the implementation of a recently signed peace treaty calling for the present Yemeni administration to assume a caretaker role. The administration would remain in control while a new government is formed.
According to the ministry, implementation of the late-September peace treaty, and especially the drafting of a new constitution, will help the country out of the current “crisis” situation, preserving Yemen’s unity and independence.
Attacks on both civilian and military targets have claimed almost 100 lives since the beginning of October.
The Sanaa suicide bombing on 9 October killed 47 civilians, including children. An attack on a security outpost in Mukalla killed 20 soldiers, with an attack on government offices and outposts the day prior claiming the lives of 20.
