New York City: The recent Houthi escalation of the conflict in Yemen, including an attack on top government officials in Taiz, was strongly denounced by the UN Security Council on Tuesday. The militia supported by Iran was urged by the members to stop the provocations and "prioritise the Yemeni people."

On March 25, an explosives-packed Houthi drone targeted a convoy carrying military leaders, including Defense Minister Mohsen Al-Daeri, leaving one government soldier dead and two others injured in the besieged city of Taiz.

Last month, the Houthis launched a series of assaults on government forces in the district of Hareb, south of Marib province, where they captured a few villages, causing property damage and the eviction of families. Several soldiers were also killed or hurt in other incidents.

Also Read: Russian meeting on Ukraine's webcast is not allowed by Britain

Members of the Security Council denounced the attacks in a joint statement and once more urged all parties to the conflict to increase their efforts to settle the conflict peacefully and to protect civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law.

They stated their "strong support" for efforts to hold "inclusive Yemeni-Yemeni political talks" and a general ceasefire under the auspices of the UN special envoy for Yemen and in accordance with Security Council resolutions.

Members of the council also applauded the recent accord reached in Geneva after 10 days of talks, in which the government and the Houthis agreed to swap 887 prisoners in exchange for their release. Both parties agreed to visit each other's prisons, give delegations complete access to all prisoners while they were there, and to get together again in May to talk about additional prisoner swaps.

Also Read:  Trump is accused of using a hush-money scheme to improve his chances in the 2016 election

The Security Council called for additional "confidence-building measures to work towards a political settlement and, ultimately, alleviating the suffering of Yemenis" and stated that it looks forward to the agreement being implemented during the fasting month of Ramadan.

Members also called on all donors, including those in the private sector and the international community, to contribute the final $34 million required to carry out the emergency salvage operation and reaffirmed their support for the UN's ongoing efforts to stop a catastrophic spillage from the derelict Safer oil tanker.

Early in March, the UN declared that it had acquired a vessel that could transport oil from the Safer that could hold more than a million barrels. Since the conflict in Yemen began more than eight years ago, the storage vessel has been moored in the Red Sea off the Yemeni coast with little to no maintenance, and concerns have been growing for some time that it may start to leak or break up and cause significant environmental damage.

Also Read:  In the centre of the most recent Donald Trump legal controversy, who is the Iraqi attorney?

In order to avoid an economic, environmental, and humanitarian catastrophe in the Red Sea and beyond, the Security Council stressed the significance of "timely implementation of the project."