Houthi militias hold military parade near front lines‏

Yemen's Houthi-aligned armed forces held a military parade on Thursday in the southwestern city of Ibb، in a show of force on the frontline of the key neighbouring besieged city of Taiz، according to The New Arab.

On social media، pictures from the event that showed hundreds of Houthi fighters in uniform were shared.

A video that was posted online also revealed that the fighters who marched had come from the city of Dhamar in the southwest to Ibb on foot.

Mahdi al-Mashat، the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council (SPC)، declared in a speech that "specific weaponry" that will be used in "the next phase of battle against the enemy" and "revealed in the coming days" had been provided to the Iranian-backed militias.

Information Minister of the UN recognized government Muammar al-Eryani slammed the parade on Twitter، saying it was a public show of "escalation" and "provocative behaviour".

Eryani said the parade was a "poor and desperate show aimed at luring more fighters and children to recruit"، adding that it revealed "their true stance towards calls for de-escalation and peace settlement".

The United Nations-mediated six-month cease-fire ended in October of last year، but combat has generally been held off as diplomatic efforts to end the crisis have stepped up.

Mohammed al-Jaber، the ambassador of Riyadh to Yemen، visited Sanaa in April as part of a strategy to "stabilise" the cease-fire.

Jaber later claimed that the parties to the war are committed to putting a stop to it even though no agreement was reached.

The Iran-backed Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014، which sparked a military intervention led by Saudi Arabia months later to support the UN recognized government. The war has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and a significant humanitarian crisis.