Yemeni rebels halt Swiss peace talks

On Friday, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s troops and allies managed to capture Hazm in the northern province of Jawf, AFP news agency reported tribal sources as saying.

On Thursday, government troops captured the border town of Haradh after crossing over from Saudi Arabia, where they have been trained and equipped, military sources said.

Since the peace talks opened in Switzerland Tuesday, journalists have been held at bay and the United Nations has requested that the rival delegations refrain from making any comments to the media.

Its defenses intercepted one missile earlier in the day. It did not say whether there were any casualties.

The Houthi delegates to the talks did not show up for the today’s consultations with reports attributing their absence to their protest against military gains on the ground by the government forces.

Since March, Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition whose warplanes and troops have been supporting forces in Yemen siding with President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi against Shiite rebels and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen has also deteriorated severely, with more than 21 million people – four-fifths of the population – now requiring aid.

News of the floundering peace talks came as the truce, which only began on Tuesday, seemed to fall to pieces.

The UN Office added that humanitarian assistance will also reach Hajja, Saada and other deprived Yemeni cities in the coming days.

The sources said that instead of overseeing direct talks, Ould Cheikh Ahmed was shuttling between the two sides trying to bridge differences.

Despite the swap, both sides traded accusations of violating the truce, which included a temporary halt in airstrikes by a Saudi Arabia-led Arab alliance.

UN-sponsored Yemeni peace talks in Switzerland appeared to be struggling amid differences over government demands for the release of senior officials held by the Iran-allied Houthis, sources close to the talks said on Thursday.

More than 5,800 people have been killed – about half of them civilians – and more than 27,000 wounded since March, according to the UN.