Sana'a: Yemeni human rights activists launched a public campaign yesterday calling for a halt to the ongoing war between Al Houthi rebels and government troops in the northern province of Sa'ada.

The participants of the campaign entitled, 'Together against the Sa'ada War', called upon all to do their best to stop the war which has been shedding the blood of Yemenis and causing destruction of property for about five months now.

"We are not with one party or the other, we are not with Al Houthi, we are not with the government, but we are against the war. We want to stop it. It is a disaster to us all," Belquis Al Lahabi, one of the organisers, told the human rights activists and journalists who assembled in the headquarters of the Arab Sisters Forum for Human Rights, a local NGO.

Video scenes from Sa'ada showing the suffering of the families of war victims were screened at the launch of the campaign. The organisers said the scenes had been filmed by citizens from Sa'ada.

The organisers, mainly the Arab Sisters Forum for Human Rights chaired by human rights activist, Amal Basha, asked the participants to sign a paper demanding an immediate cease-fire in Sa'ada. Most of the participants signed the paper.

Call to tribes

In a statement given to media at the launch ceremony, the organisers condemned using weapons against the state and said both warring parties were responsible for stopping the war, but the responsibility of the state was bigger.

"Our call for stopping the war does not mean exemption of Al Houthi group from the responsibility for the war and using the weapons outside the law, but because the state owns all reasons of force, then it [the state] is more responsible for stopping the war," said the statement, which was signed by the preparatory committee for 'Together against the Sa'ada War' Campaign.

The organisers of the campaign also called the chiefs of the tribes from other provinces not to enlist their followers in the war.

"The loss of the nation is big due to having soldiers and tribesmen killed, so we call all tribesmen from other areas not to participate or send their sons to a war from which no one benefits except the weapons and death traders," said the statement, which pointed out that about 50,000 citizens were homeless due to the war.