Saudi-led coalition to halt military operations in Yemen as UN urges truce

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The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group in Yemen said late on Tuesday it would halt military operations from Wednesday, following a United Nations call for a truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The UN has been working with the Saudi-led military alliance and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, which have been at war since 2015, to secure a peace deal and alleviate a dire humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country.
The truce is the most significant step in peace efforts in more than three years as the international community struggles to end the seven-year-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands and left millions on the brink of starvation.

“The joint forces command of the coalition announces a halt of military operations inside Yemen starting Wednesday at 6 am,” Saudi state news agency SPA reported, citing a statement from the coalition’s spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki.
Houthi leader Mohammed al-Bukaiti tweeted that “the enforced siege on Yemen is a military act because it is enforced by the force of weapons. If the siege is not lifted, the coalition’s announcement that it is halting its military operations will be meaningless.”
“This means that our military operations to break the siege will continue,” he added.
The decision came amid international efforts to end the Yemeni crisis and reach a comprehensive political solution, SPA said.

The UN proposal calls for a temporary ceasefire during Ramadan in exchange for allowing fuel ships to dock at Houthi-held Hodeidah port and a small number of commercial flights to operate from Sanaa airport, sources familiar with the matter said. Ramadan begins this weekend.

As of March 27, four fuel ships were waiting off Hodeidah port, including a tanker stuck in the coalition holding area for nearly three months, UN data showed.
Sanaa airport has been closed since 2015, when the coalition intervened after the Houthis ousted the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi in 2014.
The coalition controls Yemen’s seas and air space.
The plan drafted by U.N. special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg is also backed by the United States and other Western powers, the two sources said.
Grundberg’s spokeswoman Ismini Palla declined to comment on details of the proposal, saying that the ceasefire was aimed at giving the Yemenis a much-needed break from violence.
“The Envoy continues his discussions with all sides and calls on all to engage constructively to urgently reach a truce,” she said in a statement.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/30/middleeast