Arms for Houthis found in Yemeni trucks with Oman plates, report says

Allies of Yemen's president found weapons bound for Iran-backed Houthis rebels on trucks with Omani license plates, although there was no evidence of any link to Omani authorities, who are neutral in Yemen's war, a Saudi-owned daily reported on Sunday.

Al-Hayat newspaper quoted Marib governor Sultan al-Arada as saying the vehicles carrying "explosives and weapons" had been en route from the Yemeni province of Hadramout to the rebel-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

The fighting, which intensified after U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait ended last month without an agreement, has seen little ground changing hands.

Omani officials were not immediately available for a comment. Arada was also out of the country and could not immediately be reached for a comment.

"Arada did not confirm an external link to that shipment, indicating that the trucks were carrying Omani license plates but it was not possible to confirm any Omani authorities' connection to that," al-Hayat said.

Oman sees itself as a mediator trying to prevent traditional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran from escalating into a confrontation. Oman is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which also groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Saudi Arabia, believes that Iran supplies the Houthis rebels with weapons, patrols Yemeni waters to try to stop any weapons from reaching the group. Saudi Arabia called for the United Nations Security Council to put an end to the smuggling of Iranian weapons to Shiite rebels in Yemen as it constitutes a violation of Resolution 2216. Yemen plays a significant role for Saudi Arabia against Iran's influence over the violence-hit Middle East region. The advance of the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi group raises fears of the possible disintegration of the country. The capital Sanaa has been under Houthi rebel control since September 2014. The country has been facing severe political instability after the takeover of the presidential palace by Houthi militants, prompting President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to tender his resignation.

Yemen has been in the grip of its most severe crisis in years. Yemen is the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula and depends heavily on imports to feed its nearly 25 million people. Some 14 million of Yemen's 26 million population needed food aid and 7 million were suffering from food insecurity. As of September, at least 10,000 people have been killed in Yemen's 18-month-old civil war, the United Nations stated. The conflict has displaced three million Yemenis and forced 200,000 to seek refuge abroad. The United Nations had information that 900,000 of the displaced intended to try to return to their homes. U.N.-sponsored peace talks ended in August without agreement, and without an agreement for a new round. The collapse of negotiations was followed by stepped-up fighting across Yemen.