A new bout of frontline fighting in Yemen has disrupted diplomatic efforts to expand a United Nations-brokered truce deal that has largely held since its expiry six months ago.
Military and government sources told news agencies that the clashes erupted late on Tuesday when the Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen, launched an attack on Harib district, in the oil-rich Marib province. The UN-backed truce initially took effect in April 2022 and raised hopes for a longer pause in fighting. The deal expired in October, but fighting has largely remained on hold.
Yemen has been marred by a bloody conflict since the Iran-aligned Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government. The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, forced millions from their homes, and spawned what the United Nations has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Read more here.
