People in several Yemeni cities have taken to the streets to mark the eighth anniversary of the Saudi-led war against the impoverished Arab country.

The mass protests took place in many cities and provinces, including the capital Sana’a, Sa’ada, and Ta’izz on Sunday, with demonstrators demanding an end to the Saudi-led coalition’s military aggression and brutal siege on Yemen.

They held placards and shouted slogans against US policies as they gathered in the main squares of the cities to denounce the Saudi war, vowing to continue their resistance against the aggressors.

The rallies came a day after the leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement Abdul-Malik al-Houthi called on Yemenis to stage mass protests to mark the eighth year of resistance.

In Sana’a, a large number of residents hit the streets and chanted slogans in support of the country’s resistance against the aggressors, Yemen’s al-Masirah television network reported.

In Sa’ada, a large number of protesters took to the streets to mark the national day of resistance.

In other provinces, including Ta’izz, Hajjah, al-Jawf, Ibb and al-Bayda, people gathered in the main squares to demonstrate their continued resistance against the aggressors.  

Meanwhile, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, has sent a message to the Saudi-led coalition, saying that if it intends to leave Yemen, “the way is open for it.”

Al-Houthi noted that the military progress and the unity of the government are among the signs of Yemen’s stability and the resistance of its people.

He also emphasized that the Ansarullah resistance movement has never set an impossible condition for peace, saying “This coalition is an aggressor that has no real vision and plan for peace, and we want real peace, not a show or propaganda.”

The Yemeni official further said that everyone is aware that the US is the main cause of aggression against Yemen.

He also stressed that the only path to peace is through lifting the siege of Yemen and expelling the enemy from the country.

Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states, launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015.

The objective was to crush the popular Ansarullah, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen, and reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to achieve any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.