UN Hails Two-month Renewal of Yemen Truce

UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the two-month renewal of Yemen truce between Yemen’s National Salvation Government and the US-Saudi coalition, and noted the developments that have taken place since April.

“I strongly urge the parties to complete the full implementation of the terms of the truce without delay in order to uphold the interests of all Yemenis, who continue to suffer from one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world,” he said in a statement.

The United Nations announced that Yemen’s National Salvation Government and the US-Saudi coalition that has been attacking Yemen since 2015 have agreed to renew a two-month truce after days of negotiations.

UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said that the extension of the truce comes into effect when the current truce period expires, 2 June 2022 at 19:00 Yemen time (1600 GMT).”

The head of the National Delegation confirmed that the extension of the truce was accepted for humanitarian reasons, provided that what was not met by the US-Saudi aggression during the past two months will be compensated for.

Mohammed Abdulsalam stressed that the difference will be based on the extent to which the Saudi side adheres to its commitments, so that a comprehensive understanding of the humanitarian situation is conducted.

The ceasefire agreement was mediated by the UN between the Saudi-led aggression and the National Salvation Government in Sana’a on April 2. The truce was announced after Yemen’s Supreme Political Council declared a voluntary and unilateral three-day pause in retaliatory strikes against targets in Saudi Arabia.

The UN envoy also noted that the truce was extended under the same terms as the previous one.

Elsewhere, Grundberg stressed that a ground, aerial and naval blockade of Yemen imposed by Riyadh and its allies needed to be urgently addressed.

In line with the agreement, the US-Saudi aggression agreed to end its attacks on the Yemeni soil that it began in March 2015 with the goal of changing Yemen’s power structure in favor of the country’s former Saudi-allied officials.

The coalition also agreed to end a simultaneous siege that it has been enforcing against Yemen.

However, in April it was still obstructing flights to the Sana’a International Airport in Yemen’s capital and detaining fuel ships that were headed to the country. The fires of the aggression side did not subside along the fronts, on the borders and inside, including shelling, reconnaissance, development and crawl.

The Saudi-led aggression was taking advantage of the UN-brokered ceasefire in order to mobilize allied militants in line with its hostile plots.