Arab Coalition to Suspend Hostilities in Yemen for 7 Days

Forces loyal to Hadi, supported by Saudi-led coalition air strikes, and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have battled each other since March.

More than 80 people, a lot of them soldiers and border guards, have been killed in shelling and cross-border skirmishes since March, when a Saudi-led coalition began air strikes against Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies in Yemen.

The truce “would be renewed automatically if the other party commits to it”, the statement cited Hadi as saying.

Ceasefire set to start on Monday, a day before peace negotiations with Yemeni government begin in Switzerland.

Previous UN efforts have failed to narrow differences, and past ceasefires were broken.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition could not be reached for immediate comment but the alliance says it does not target civilians.

The long-drawn civil war has been fought between Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against southern separatists, local and tribal militias, Sunni Islamic militants and Hadi’s loyalists.

The truce will last from December 15 to December 21 “at the time of intra-Yemeni talks”, the statement said.

The rebel forces have yet to say if they will abide by the ceasefire agreement.

Col. Abdullah al-Sahyan, head of Saudi special forces in the southern Yemeni city of Aden, was killed during fighting near Taiz, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Meanwhile, Houthi and Saleh forces have hit back by launching missiles at Gulf forces and held their own on the battlefield, although they appear unable to impose their writ on the whole country.

A day prior to the scheduled peace talks in Switzerland, a ceasefire has been agreed upon by both the warring parties in Yemen. Jihadists have launched attacks on both sides of the conflict.

According to the United Nations envoy, talks will focus on four main areas, including the terms of a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of armed groups from areas they control.

In 2014, the Huthis advanced from their northern strongholds before occupying government buildings in Sanaa in September that year and forcing Hadi into exile in Saudi Arabia months later.

Hadi returned last month and declared Aden his provisional capital.

Almost 6,000 people have been killed in the fighting and more than two million have been forced to flee their homes in the escalating violence that has plunged Yemen into a devastating humanitarian crisis.