7-day ceasefire to begin in Yemen on Monday

In this photo provided by the Yemeni Presidency, Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, center, meets with officials and local leaders in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015.

The spokesman of the Shiite rebels known as Houthis, Mohammed Abdel Salam, said, “We have agreed to the ceasefire to lift the suffering of our people and to deliver humanitarian assistance to them”.

Yemen’s conflict has pitted local forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition fighting in support of Hadi’s government against the Shiite Huthis and renegade troops still loyal to wealthy ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A seven-day ceasefire in Yemen is to start on Monday, a day before UN-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland, officials on both sides of a war that has killed almost 6,000 people said. The newest branch of Islamic State has exploited the chaos to launch spectacular attacks in Yemen on both the Shi’ite mosques of the Houthis and senior officials and troops loyal to the government.

Three Apache helicopters were also destroyed in the attack, said the Houthi rebel group, which has been fighting the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Delegations have been preparing for peace talks to end the bitter conflict in Yemen.

Previous ceasefires in Yemen have fallen apart or only been partially observed, with the warring parties accusing each other of not respecting the terms.

The resolution calls for complete withdrawal of rebel forces from all the areas they control, in addition to surrendering arms captured in months of fighting.

“We hope the militias will commit to the ceasefire this time”, said Mueen Abdulmalek referring to Iran-backed rebel forces in Yemen. Haradh, on the border with Saudi Arabia, is among the northern strongholds of the Shiite Houthi rebels who control Yemen’s capital.

The United Nations has invited Hadi’s authorities as well as the Houthis to peace negotiations following both sides agreed ground rules and a draft plan for the discussions.

The statement said Hadi wrote to Saudi King Salman informing him and the coalition of a Yemeni government decision to “declare a 7-day ceasefire initiative”, as talks begin at an undisclosed location in Switzerland.

The impending truce on Monday showed no sign of stopping the continued violence in the country, where hundreds of thousands of people have already been displaced.