By: Ahmed Al-Haj and Samy Magdy
The Associated Press
SANAA, Yemen — A cease-fire on Tuesday halted months of heavy fighting in Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, raising hopes that the latest U.N.-led peace efforts can end the civil war and alleviate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
But the truce in the Red Sea city remains fragile, and it’s unclear if the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels can reach a wider peace agreement despite mounting international pressure to end the war.
Yemeni officials said the fighting in Hodeida subsided early Tuesday as the cease-fire took effect, with only sporadic fire from automatic weapons heard across the city.
Some 70 percent of Yemen’s food imports and humanitarian aid enter through Hodeida, which remained open even as the Saudi-led coalition waged a months-long campaign that failed to dislodge the rebels. Aid groups feared the port’s closure could plunge Yemen into famine.
Al Jazeera News
Yemen's warring parties agreed to a ceasefire in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah last week, a major breakthrough that was expected to end violence in the flashpoint city.
After a week of consultations in the Swedish town of Rimbo, representatives from the Houthi movement and the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi agreed to pull back their fighters to allow the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces and the establishment of humanitarian corridors.
But just a day after the historic truce was reached, clashes erupted between the opposing sides.
At least 30 fighters have been killed in the past three days and the intermittent violence threatens to upend the hard-won accord.
The Associated Press
SANAA, Yemen — A cease-fire on Tuesday halted months of heavy fighting in Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, raising hopes that the latest U.N.-led peace efforts can end the civil war and alleviate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
But the truce in the Red Sea city remains fragile, and it’s unclear if the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels can reach a wider peace agreement despite mounting international pressure to end the war.
Yemeni officials said the fighting in Hodeida subsided early Tuesday as the cease-fire took effect, with only sporadic fire from automatic weapons heard across the city.
Some 70 percent of Yemen’s food imports and humanitarian aid enter through Hodeida, which remained open even as the Saudi-led coalition waged a months-long campaign that failed to dislodge the rebels. Aid groups feared the port’s closure could plunge Yemen into famine.
Read more at The Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Everything you need to know about the Hodeidah ceasefire
Al Jazeera News
Yemen's warring parties agreed to a ceasefire in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah last week, a major breakthrough that was expected to end violence in the flashpoint city.
After a week of consultations in the Swedish town of Rimbo, representatives from the Houthi movement and the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi agreed to pull back their fighters to allow the deployment of UN-supervised neutral forces and the establishment of humanitarian corridors.
But just a day after the historic truce was reached, clashes erupted between the opposing sides.
At least 30 fighters have been killed in the past three days and the intermittent violence threatens to upend the hard-won accord.
Read more at Al Jazeera.
