Today (December 13) in Sweden, Yemen’s warring parties have agreed to ceasefire in the port city of Hodeidah as it serves as an important lifeline for about 18 million civilians. This meeting has been marked one of the first major peace talks in two years.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has stated that the troops will withdraw from the port city “within days”: “There is a ceasefire declared for the [port city of Hodeidah] in the agreement and there will be both from the city and the harbour a withdrawal of all forces”.
Guterres had added that the UN will play an “important role” and help “facilitate the humanitarian flow of goods to the civilian population and it will improve the living conditions for millions of Yemenis”.
The Yemeni Civil War had began in 2015, when both Abdradduh Mansur Hadi followers and the Houthi rebels who had allied with forces that were followers of the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have claimed to constitute the Yemeni government.
After the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels had succeeded in taking over the government, the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee had announced to increase their control by entering the southern provinces and fighting for their seat of power for Hadi’s government.
Later in 2015, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition had taken militant actions by utilising airstrikes to restore the former Yemeni government. The US had “logistically” supported the Saudis for this intervention.
Guterres has said that the conflict in Yemen “has gone on for four years. Four devastating years of suffering for the Yemeni people”.
From March 2015 to December 2017, 8,000 to 13,000 people have been killed including over 5,200 civilians. More than 50,000 are estimated to be dead due to the ongoing war.
20 million are currently suffering from starvation, while 1.8 million of these are children. The United Nations has called it “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis” and has stated that the Yemen war is considered one of the “worst famine in 100 years”.
Today, Yemen’s foreign minister Khaled al-Yamani and negotiator of the Houthi rebel group Mohammed Abdelsalam haven shaken hands raising hopes for Yemenis for the nearly four-year war to eventually end.
The two parties will meet again around the end of January, 2019 to discuss further negotiations. Until then, further agreements and compromises over ceasefire will be made.
#Peace.Love.Yemen
