Yemeni peace talks in Switzerland have been halted after the country’s Houthi rebel delegation suspended all meetings with the government in protest over ceasefire violations, members of Yemen’s two warring sides say.
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Negotiators are scrambling to end the spiralling conflict, which has killed more than 5,800 people since March, according to the United Nations.
Speaking at a news conference in Bern, U.N. special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said the talks between the internationally recognized government and Shiite rebels were hindered by violations of the truce that went into effect last Tuesday.
He told AFP that the ceasefire, which was meant to facilitate the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid, was “still-born”.
Face-to-face talks between Hadi’s government and the Houthi group have not occurred since Wednesday evening after the Houthis rejected demands for the release of detained senior officials, including Yemen’s defence minister and Hadi’s brother, said sources close to the talks. Battles erupted in September 2014, when Houthis seized the capital, Sana’a, before pushing southward and forcing Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia as they took control of the port city of Aden.
Earlier this week, the rebels claimed to have inflicted damage on a government coalition military base in Marib province east of Sanaa.
The coalition did not immediately confirm this.
They reported casualties as the troops sought to retake the oil-rich Usaylan region from the Huthis.
Saudi’s Civil Defence Force said on Twitter that a rocket fired from Yemen killed two Saudi workers and injured a civilian in the Saudi border city of Najran. Ahmed said he’s suspending the talks to build a stronger cease-fire agreement.
At least 68 people have died in fierce fighting in northern Yemen in recent days, the country’s military said Saturday, tainting an already fragile cease-fire between pro-government forces and Shi’ite Houthi rebels.
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It was issued after a fourth day of rocky peace talks, during which the special envoy “held several sessions with the participants”, the statement added.
