Ceasefire holds in war-torn port after UN talks

YEMEN’S KEY port city of Hodeida was calm yesterday morning, hours after a UN-mediated ceasefire came into effect between government-allied forces and the country’s rebels, officials said.

Fighting subsided as the ceasefire took effect, with only the sporadic sound of automatic weapons fire heard in the city, where the port handles about 70 per cent of Yemen’s imports.

The four-year conflict pits the internationally recognised government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, against Shiite rebels known as Houthis.

The government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi called for its forces to “cease fire in both Hodeida city and the province”, also named Hodeida, according to a statement from Mr Hadi’s Defence Ministry. The rebels also welcomed the ceasefire.

The agreement came during UN-sponsored talks in Sweden last week. A joint committee led by UN officers will oversee the ceasefire and the redeployment of the warring parties’ forces out of Hodeida, which is currently controlled by the Houthis.

Local authorities and police will run the city and its three port facilities under UN supervision, and the two sides are barred from bringing in reinforcements.

UN envoy Martin Griffith has said the committee is expected to start its work swiftly “to translate the momentum built up in Sweden into achievements on the ground”.

A cessation of hostilities in Hodeida would spare Yemen a significant spike in civilian casualties.

The two sides fought to a stalemate after weeks of ruinous street-to-street fighting. The war has pushed much of the country to the brink of famine.

UN officials say 22 million of its 29 million people are in need of aid.

Yemen is said to be the country most at risk of humanitarian catastrophe next year.