Hodeida- Residents of Yemen’s flashpoint port of Hodeida and other cities fear a UN-brokered ceasefire could collapse at any moment, saying that after four years of conflict any accord is deeply fragile.
On Friday morning, a day after the breakthrough agreement was penned in Sweden by representatives of the Yemeni government and Al Houthis, many held their breath.
The Red Sea port of Hodeida, a main frontline between rebels and government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition and key conduit of aid, had woken to calm after weeks of confrontation.
But hours later scattered clashes broke with artillery and machinegun exchanges heard through the south and east of the city, residents said.
It was the first test of the fragile ceasefire.
Saturday morning saw calm return to Hodeida, but shops and schools remained shuttered as gunmen deployed in the south and east.
“I was so happy they had reached a solution for Hodeida but our happiness was short lived,” 28-year-old Hodeida resident Noha Ahmad told AFP after the clashes.
Omar Hassan, 40, said residents of the beleaguered city have been “desperately waiting for calm and security to be restored”.
“Now we are afraid that clashes will return and persist,” he said.
Thursday’s ceasefire accord has been seen as the most significant step towards ending Yemen’s devastating conflict, but for some Hodeida residents Thursday’s hard-won accord will come to nought.
Elsewhere in the city - in central and northern districts - it was business as usual on Saturday with markets thronged with shoppers, but even there residents were cautious.
“Truces are always broken and the current agreement could collapse at any second,” said a resident who declined to be identified.
Further south in the government-held second city of Aden, residents welcomed the ceasefire but hoped it would hold for the sake of war-weary civilians.
“We hope that the warring sides will think of the people who are on the threshold of despair,” said Hassan Bin Attaf.
“We pray to God to calm everyone - politicians, military commanders and coalition forces - so that the ceasefire will hold and the war will stop,” he said.
