Relief organizations call for extending truce in Yemen

SANAA, Jun. 01 (YPA) – Relief organizations operating in Yemen called on Tuesday to extend the current truce in the war-torn country, which expires on Thursday, at a time when the two sides expressed no objection, but without reaching an actual agreement on this.

“We urge you to extend the armistice agreement and to move forward to add to the gains made over the past two months and to work for peace for Yemenis,” the more than 30 organizations, including the “Norwegian Refugee Council,” said in a statement.

The statement continued: “We saw the positive humanitarian effects of the truce. In the first month of the truce alone, the number of dead or wounded in Yemen decreased by more than 50%, and due to the regular entry of fuel ships to the port of Hodeida the people are no longer standing in queues.”

On the second of last April, a truce, brokered by the United Nations, entered into force, to last for two months. The agreement includes allowing commercial flights from Sanaa International Airport, which has been open only to aid flights since 2016, and that represented a rare glimmer of hope in the conflict after a devastating war.

YPA