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Yemen to start 72-hour ceasefire, UN special envoy says
United Nations special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has received assurances from the Yemeni government and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for truce, with the possibility of it being extended
The truce comes 10 days after the Arab coalition bombed a funeral hall in Sanaa, Yemen
The UN special envoy for Yemen has announced the plan for a 72-hour ceasefire starting on Wednesday night.
UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has received assurances from all Yemeni parties for a ceasefire to begin at 23:59 Yemen time on Wednesday, for an initial period of 72 hours, subject to renewal, a statement released on Monday said.
The country’s foreign minister has said in an official tweet that the president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, has agreed to the 72-hour ceasefire. “The president agreed to a 72 hrs ceasefire to be extended if the other party adheres to it, activates the DCC and lifts the siege of Taiz,” Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi said.
The De-escalation and Co-ordination Committee (DCC) is the military commission responsible for overseeing ceasefires.
On Sunday, the US, Britain and Cheikh Ahmed issued an appeal to the rival parties in the civil war to declare an immediate ceasefire as they tried to seize on outrage caused by the killing of 140 people in a Saudi air strike which hit a funeral on 8 October.
Fighting between Iranian-backed Houthis and the Yemeni government, which is supported by Gulf states, has been going on for more than 18 months, far longer than the Gulf states expected.
