(ANSAMed) - BEIRUT, APRIL 11 - The United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, today began his first visit to Sanaa, the capital of Yemen and controlled since 2014 by Huthi insurgents considered close to Iran.
The visit takes place as part of the ceasefire that began on April 2 and negotiated by the UN with the parties to the conflict: the Houthis on one side and the Yemeni loyalist forces supported by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on the other.
Grundberg, in office since last September, will meet with Huthi representatives in Sanaa.
"I look forward to engaging with Ansar Allah's leaders to enforce the ceasefire and discuss steps to take," read a tweet published by the special envoy's office.
Ansar Allah is the name of the political and military organization led by the Houthis.
"Since the start of the ceasefire, we have seen a significant reduction in violence," Grundberg said in a press conference held virtually over the past few days.
In the first week of the ceasefire, however, armed clashes occurred in the disputed area of Maarib, east of Sanaa, but these are minor incidents compared to the armed actions recorded in the weeks before the ceasefire entered into force.
Since the outbreak of the war in Yemen, with the involvement of the Saudi-led Arab anti-Huthi coalition in 2015, hundreds of thousands of people have died from direct and indirect causes of the armed clashes.
And millions of people have ended up on the brink of famine, according to the UN.
(ANSAMed).