The UN announced on Tuesday the extension for “another two months” of the current truce in Yemen, hoping to “intensify” the negotiations to achieve a more “lasting” peace in this country, devastated by almost eight years of war.
Facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula is devastated by a conflict between government forcesbacked by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia since 2015, and by the Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, Riyadh’s rival in the region.
“I am pleased to announce that the parties have agreed to extend the truce, under the same conditions, for two more months, from August 2, 2022 to October 2, 2022,” said the United Nations (UN) envoy to Yemen. Hans Grundberg. .
The ceasefire “includes the commitment of the parties to intensify negotiations to reach a truce agreement be extended as soon as possible,” he added in a statement.
On April 2, a two-month ceasefire was observed in Yemen and then extended for an identical period on June 2, giving Yemen a rare reprieve. As in June, the announcement of the renewal of this ceasefire was made on the same day that the previous one ended.
Yemen. Two-month ceasefire goes into effect
The main objective of the current truces remains to provide relief to civilians and create an environment conducive to a peaceful resolution of the conflict through a comprehensive political process,” Grundberg said.
According to the UN, the war in Yemen left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displacedwith two-thirds of the population in need of humanitarian assistance, including the risk of large-scale famine.
On Monday, several local and international humanitarian organizations working in Yemen had called for the truce to be renewed for a longer period of “six months or more”.
According to them, the ceasefire made it possible, in four months, to reduce “considerably” the number of civilian casualties and facilitate the supply of fuel, which resulted in a “proper functioning of public services.”
UN envoy to Yemen sees truce as ‘small window’ to peace
Source: Observadora
