Yemen truce to be announced in 24 hours: UN envoy

A humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen is widely expected to be announced within a day, raising hopes for a halt to Saudi Arabia’s deadly airstrikes, the UN envoy to Yemen says.

A Thursday report by Yemen News Agency (SABA), quoted Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as saying that an agreement had been reached on a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen.

Ould Cheikh said the official announcement of the truce deal could come within the next 24 hours.

The development came as fugitive former Yemeni government members, who are currently based in Saudi Arabia, said Wednesday that they will accept an UN-sponsored truce deal in Yemen. They said the fugitive former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, had set conditions including the release of some former officials by the Ansarullah as well as Houthi’s withdrawal from some southern regions in Yemen.

Houthis seized control of the capital Sana’a last September. The revolutionary movement then moved to take control of much of the country from al-Qaeda linked militants and armed followers of Hadi.

Hadi’s ouster played well into neighboring Saudi Arabia’s hands to unleash an all-out aerial aggression on Yemen in March.

‘Yemen will be avenged’

Yemen’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee announced in a statement on Wednesday that Sana’a will spare no efforts at avenging the casualties and destruction left behind from the Saudi aggression.

“It is over 100 days that the Saudi aggressors are committing the most heinous crimes in Yemen, they have violated all international laws and have committed a full-fledged genocide in Yemen,” the statement said, adding that Riyadh and its allies have been hindering efforts aimed at the reconciliation of the Yemeni factions.

According to the UN, over 5,100 people, including 1,528 civilians, have been killed, since the Saudi military campaign in Yemen started on March 26.