Yemen rebels halt peace talks in Switzerland, set conditions

The sources said the Hadi loyalist troops had also gained control of al-Labnat military base near al-Hazm, which had been under the control of the Houthi militia and their allies, fighters loyal to former President Ali Abdallah Saleh.

Yemeni government forces were within 40 kilometres of the rebel-held capital on Saturday as they pressed their advance against Shia rebels in disregard of a UN-brokered ceasefire, military sources said.

Dozens of tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed in the fighting and most of the dead were killed by airstrikes from the Saudi-led coalition that dominates the skies in Yemen, said the witnesses and security sources, who remain neutral in the conflict that has splintered Yemen.

Yemeni peace talks in Switzerland were halted on Friday after the country’s Shiite rebel delegation suspended all meetings with the internationally recognized government in protest over its cease-fire violations, members of Yemen’s two warring sides told The Associated Press.

A Yemen ceasefire appeared to have collapsed yesterday as government forces captured two towns from rebels and the Saudi-led coalition accused the Iran-backed insurgents of firing two ballistic missiles.

“A coordination and de-escalation committee was created to strengthen adherence to the cessation of hostilities”, a statement by United Nations special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The U.N.-sponsored peace talks opened away from television cameras on Tuesday in the hope of ending nearly nine months of conflict that have killed almost 6,000 people and displaced millions.

Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and allied tribesmen on Friday captured Hazm, the capital of northern Jawf province, after making significant gains in the neighboring region of Marib, tribal sources said.

Defense Minister Mahmoud Subaihi and Gen. Nasser Mansour Hadi, brother of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, would be handed over to the Red Cross with the other three prisoners later in the day, they said.

“Dangerous escalation is taking place through land, sea and air by the aggressors”, Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman told Sabaa news agency late on Tuesday.