HODEIDAH: The head of the United Nations team tasked with monitoring a fragile cease-fire in the flashpoint city of Hodeidah on Monday visited its lifeline docks, a port official said.
Retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert also called on Yemen’s warring sides to respect the hard-won truce agreed this month in Sweden, Hodeida port deputy director Yehya Sharafeddin said.
Cammaert visited the docks through which the majority of imports and humanitarian aid enter war-torn Yemen, Sharafeddin said.
“The (UN) official promised us that the war will end,” he told AFP by phone.
“He said the Yemen war had been forgotten for years but that the international community is now adamant about ending it,” Sharafeddin added.
Cammaert is heading a joint committee including members of the government and the Houthi militia, in charge of monitoring a truce in the vital Red Sea city and its surroundings.
Cammaert arrived in Hodeidah from Sanaa after meeting with government officials in Aden.
Yemen’s warring sides agreed on a cease-fire to halt a devastating offensive by government forces and an allied Saudi-led coalition against Iran-allied Houthi-held Hodeidah at peace talks in Sweden this month.
According to the UN he will chair on Wednesday a meeting of a joint committee including members of the government and the Houthi militia, in charge of monitoring a truce in the vital Red Sea port.
That meeting will be “one of the priorities” of Cammaert’s mission, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Sunday.
The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution authorizing the deployment of observers to Hodeidah to monitor the truce that came into effect last week.
Sharafeddin said that Cammaert “stressed the importance of implementing the agreement” and will visit “battlefronts (in the city) at a later time”.
The cease-fire was agreed at peace talks in Sweden earlier this month following intense diplomatic efforts led by the UN.
But the truce has remained shaky, with both sides accusing each other of violations in Hodeidah province.
The UN monitoring team aims to secure the functioning of Hodeidah port and supervise the withdrawal of fighters from the city.
Around 10,000 people have been killed since the conflict began, according to the World Health Organization, although rights groups say the death toll could be five times higher.
The conflict has unleashed a major humanitarian crisis and pushed 14 million Yemenis to the brink of famine.
UN cease-fire monitor head visits Hodeidah port
UN cease-fire monitor head visits Hodeidah port
- Patrick Cammaert called on Yemen’s warring sides to respect the hard-won truce agreed this month in Sweden
- Cammaert visited the docks through which the majority of imports and humanitarian aid enter
Ceasefire with Kurdish-led force extended for another 15 days, Syrian army says
- The defense ministry said the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants to Iraq
- The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension
RAQQA, Syria: Hours after the expiration of a four-day truce between the Syrian government and Kurdish-led fighters Saturday, Syria’s defense ministry announced the ceasefire had been extended by another 15 days.
The defense ministry said in a statement that the extension was in support of an operation by US forces to transfer accused Daesh militants who had been held in prisons in northeastern Syria to detention centers in Iraq.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces confirmed the ceasefire extension.
“Our forces affirm their commitment to the agreement and their dedication to respecting it, which contributes to de-escalation, the protection of civilians, and the creation of the necessary conditions for stability,” the group said in a statement.
Over the past three weeks, there have been intense clashes between government forces and the SDF, in which the SDF lost large parts of the area they once controlled.
Earlier in the day, the Kurdish-led force called on the international community to prevent any escalation.
The end of the truce came as government forces have been sending reinforcements to Syria’s northeast.
Syria’s interim government signed an agreement last March with the SDF for it to hand over territory and to eventually merge its fighters with government forces. In early January, a new round of talks failed to make progress over the merger, leading to renewed fighting between the two sides.
A new version of the accord was signed last weekend, and a four-day ceasefire was declared Tuesday. Part of the new deal is that SDF members will have to merge into the army and police forces as individuals.
The SDF said in a statement Saturday that military buildups and logistical movements by government forces have been observed, “clearly indicating an intent to escalate and push the region toward a new confrontation.” The SDF said it will continue to abide by the truce.
On Saturday, state TV said authorities on Saturday released 126 boys under the age of 18 who were held at the Al-Aqtan prison near the northern city of Raqqa that was taken by government forces Friday. The teenagers were taken to the city of Raqqa where they were handed over to their families, the TV station said.
The prison is also home to some of the 9,000 members of the Daesh group who are held in northeastern Syria. Most of them remain held in jails run by the SDF. Government forces have so far taken control of two prisons while the rest are still run by the SDF.
Earlier this week, the US military said that some 7,000 Daesh detainees will be transferred to detention centers in neighboring Iraq.
On Wednesday, the US military said that 150 prisoners have been taken to Iraq.
