Millions of people have rallied in Yemen to voice their strong support for a political body recently formed to run the countryin the face of aSaudi military campaign to reinstate a former president.
People took to the streets inthe capitalin their millions before convergingon a main squareto support the Supreme Political Council, formed after peace talks with the Saudi side broke down recently.
They waved national Yemeni flags and chanted slogans like We will sacrifice our souls and blood for the sake of Yemen, as patriotic songs played.
They also carried placards with messages reading, Reforms are the most efficient popular force in the face of enemies in Arabic in an apparent reference to Saudi Arabia and Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Hadi resigned as president in January 2015 and then fled to Saudi Arabia which launched a ferocious military campaign againstYemen two months later to restore him to power.
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Yemenis walk through the rubble of a house destroyed by the Saudi Arabian military in the capital, Sanaa, August 11, 2016. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]The formation of the Supreme Political Council promptedYemens parliament to hold its first session earlier this monthsince the outbreak of the conflict.The lawmakers endorsed the new council andformally stripped Hadi of any responsibility.
The decision to establish the councilwas made by Yemens Houthi Ansarullah movementand former President Ali Abdullah Salehs General Peoples Congress partyback in late July. It was formally launched on August 6, when the Houthis andSalehs faction announced that theyboth hadan equal share in the 10-member body.
Saudi raids on Yemen continue
The decision has prompted Saudi Arabia to step up its airstrikes on Yemen, especially the capital Sana'a.
On Saturday, Saudi warplanes launched separate aerial attacks onthe Baqim, Saqayn and As Safra districts in the northern Saadaprovince, leaving several people injured.
An unspecified number of civilians also lost their lives and sustained injuries when Saudi military aircraft conducted five airstrikes against an area in the Usaylan district of the Shabwah province.
In the northern Sanaa Province, Saudi jets attackedthe Arhab district, leaving at least three people dead.
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A Yemeni man stands near the grave of a relative killed in the Saudi war on Yemen, at a cemetery in Sanaa, July 6, 2016. (Photo by AFP)[/caption]Elsewhere, in the Lawdar district of the southern Abyan province, pro-Hadi militiamen opened fire on a car at a security checkpoint, killing a civilian and injuring three others.
Two Yemeni civilians were also killed and three others injured in Saudi strikes against the Harf Sufyan district of thenorthwestern Amran province.
Yemen has seen almost daily military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015, with internal sources putting the toll from the bloody aggression at about 10,000.
By Press TV
