Representatives of the Yemeni government and the Shiite Houthi rebels have agreed on the first phase of a troop withdrawal from the port city of Hudaida and two other ports. It is a significant step forward, the UN said. The talks were „lengthy but constructive“. After two days of negotiations in Hudaida, both sides agreed in principle on the second phase.
In Yemen, since 2015, there has been a war between the troops supported by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states by President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi and the Houthi rebels behind Iran.
The United Nations is trying to end the war. The withdrawal of the fighters from both sides of the conflict in the port of Hudaida is central to the truce agreed in December. The troops are also to be withdrawn from the port cities of Saleef and Ras Issa.
Through the ports of these cities, much of the aid for the starving population comes into the country. Before this agreement, however, several deadlines for withdrawal from Hudaida and the ports of Saleef and Ras Issa as well as parts of the city with humanitarian facilities had expired.
According to the UN, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict, many of them civilians. Non-governmental organizations speak of far more victims. The country suffers from the worst humanitarian crisis in the world according to the UN.
