Yemen’s Houthis Start Hodeidah Redeployment as Part of UN Deal

Yemen’s Ansarullah Houthi revolutionary forces have started to redeploy inside the port city of Hodeidah as part of the U.N.-sponsored peace agreement signed in Sweden earlier this month, a U.N. source and a spokesman for the group said on Saturday.

Houthis have agreed with the Saudi-backed government to implement a ceasefire in Hodeidah province and withdraw their respective forces.

Retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, the head of a United Nations advance team charged with monitoring the ceasefire, arrived in Hodeidah this week.

Under the deal, international monitors are to be deployed in Hodeidah and a Redeployment Coordination Committee including both sides, chaired by Cammaert, will oversee implementation. The committee started its meetings this week.

A UN source said the Houthi forces, which control the city and its strategic port, had started to redeploy overnight.

“Our forces have started to redeploy since last night from Hodeidah port, as agreed in Sweden,” a Houthi military spokesman told al-Masirah TV.