The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen announced Monday (June 22nd) a ceasefire between the Yemeni government and southern separatists, who have declared autonomy in the region after several military victories.
The two sides will meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the truce, added coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki.
The continuation of this cease-fire would be favorable to the coalition, which has intervened since 2015 alongside the Yemeni government in the war against the Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival. The latter control much of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.
The announcement comes after the separatists of the Southern Transitional Council (CTS) took control of the Yemeni strategic island of Socotra, off Aden, on Saturday. The CTS and the government are in principle allies within the military coalition which fights against the Houthi rebels.
"The coalition welcomes the response of the legitimate government of Yemen and the Southern Transitional Council to demand a comprehensive cease-fire, de-escalation and a meeting to be held in the kingdom"Turki Al-Maliki said in a statement to the official media, without providing further details.
According to him, this process will advance the implementation of a power-sharing agreement in the South concluded in Riyadh in November 2019 between the two parties, but which quickly failed.
This war in war has complicated a conflict which, in half a decade, has killed tens of thousands of people and caused, according to the United Nations, the worst ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world in Yemen, the poorer on the Arabian Peninsula.
