Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a Houthi leader in Yemen on Wednesday welcomed an announcement by the Saudi-led coalition to support a ceasefire amid the coronavirus pandemic. Al-Houthi tweeted that they are waiting for the ceasefire to be applied practically.
Earlier in the day the Yemeni government accepted the call for a ceasefire of the United Nations chief Antonio Guterres to tackle the outbreak. Guterres warned that infections have emerged in conflict zones, which are already in dire humanitarian conditions, with fragile health care systems.
“We welcome the Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire, but we hope that the UN and its envoy Martin Griffiths can put pressure on Houthi militias to stop the fighting, because it is them who is attacking, whether in Sirwah, Ad Dali’ or Taiz”, Yemen’s government spokesman previously said.
Saudi coalition spokesperson Colonel Turki al-Malki later said that they support the UN call for a ceasefire and added that the coalition also backs the steps being taken to come up with confidence-building measures on the humanitarian and economic fronts.
Yemen has been torn by conflict since 2014, when Houthi rebels seized the capital and ousted the government of president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Fatal diseases are common in the country because of poverty. Over 100,000 people were killed in the war and more than 3 million were displaced since the beginning of the war.
Houthis welcome Saudi support for ceasefire in Yemen
EPA-EFE/YAHYA ARHAB
Houthi militiamen stand guard during the funeral of Saudi airstrike victims in Sanaa, Yemen, 24 May 2019. According to media reports, at least seven Yemenis, including four children, were reportedly killed and more than 50 wounded when the Saudi-led military coalition carried out bombings on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, in retaliation after the Iranian-aligned movement in Yemen allegedly attacked Saudi and Emirates oil ships.
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