Government, rebels extend truce

CAIRO — The United Nations said Thursday that Yemen’s warring

parties have agreed to renew a nationwide truce for another two months. The announcement offered a glimmer of hope for the country, plagued by eight years of civil war, though significant obstacles remain to lasting peace.

The cease-fire between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels first came into effect on April 2 — the first nationwide truce in the past six years of the conflict in the Arab World’s most impoverished nation. However, both sides have accused the other of violating the cease-fire at times.

The announcement, which is the outcome of U.N. efforts, came only few hours before the original truce was set to expire later on Thursday.

“The truce represents a significant shift in the trajectory of the war and has been achieved through responsible and courageous decision making by the parties,” U.N. Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said in a statement.

He said he will mediate talks between the warring parties to solidify the new truce, and to eventually reach a political settlement to end the conflict.

The fighting erupted in 2014 when the Houthi rebels descended from their northern enclave and took over the capital of Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee into exile in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try to restore the government to power. The conflict eventually descended into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.