After 4 Years of Civil War in Yemen, Both Sides Agree to Cease Fire; Troops Pull Out and Allow Aid

After years of fighting, in a civil war that would be one of the most destructive this planet has ever seen, a cease-fire agreement was reached by the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels. After the signing of this agreement in December, many were skeptical of both parties’ willingness to honor the cease-fire. In a significant first step, the Houthi rebels are preparing to withdraw from Hudayah, a strategic port that they had control over. Both Houthi and Government forces agreed to remove and allow humanitarian aid to enter through the port.

Overview of the fighting in Yemen:

The civil war in Yemen has been raging for four years between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni military. The conflict began in 2011, where there was a failed transition of power after an uprising associated with the Arab Spring. The Houthi rebels took advantage of this chaos to take land in the northern Saada province of Yemen. Since then, fighting has broken out, and any peace talks have ultimately failed.

Cities in Yemen have been decimated, and the U.N. estimates at least 6,800 civilians have been killed in the fighting, with another 10,700 injured. Humanitarian aid has been unable to enter Yemen until now, and many civilians have died not directly because of war, but because of hunger and disease. The U.N. plans to help these people through a new humanitarian operation working under the cease-fire.

Why is the port of Huduyah so important?

The port supplies more than ⅔rds of the Yemeni population, and access to the port would give U.N. humanitarian aid easy access to the people of Yemen.