Ceasefire extended for another two months

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Displaced people from Yemen in a UN refugee camp

Photo: YAHYA ARHAB/EPA

At the last minute, the parties to the conflict in Yemen agreed to extend the ceasefire by a further two months.

The UN Special Representative for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced on Tuesday evening that this will now be extended until October 2 under the conditions already in force - shortly after the end of the current ceasefire in the country.

Both sides have also assured that they want to work together towards an agreement that goes even further, Grundberg said.

A civil war has been raging in Yemen for more than seven years, plunging the poor country on the Arabian Peninsula into a humanitarian catastrophe.

Saudi Arabia has been fighting there with allies since 2015 against the Houthi rebels, who control large parts of the north.

Riyadh sees them as an extension of its nemesis Iran.

The UN and aid organizations are trying to provide for around 23 million people in the country, including 11 million children.

About 19 million people do not have enough to eat.

The ceasefire came into effect for two months at the beginning of April and was then extended in June.

There had been no ceasefire in the country since 2016.

The number of civilians killed fell, as did the otherwise regular attacks by the Houthis across the border to Saudi Arabia with rockets and drones.

But civilians continued to die, for example from landmines.

The ACLED analysis project has counted 300 fatalities and 1,700 violations of the ceasefire since it began.

The agreement gave the suffering population a moment of "rest and hope," said 30 aid organizations, including CARE, Oxfam and the International Rescue Committee.

This progress should not be wasted.

The parties to the conflict must allow people to restore their lives.

US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the ceasefire extension.

Biden said it was an important step to save lives.

But in the long run it's not enough.

Blinken emphasized that the US remains committed to a lasting, all-inclusive peace agreement in Yemen.

The EU also welcomed the extension of the ceasefire and called on all parties to continue working vigorously towards full implementation.

Additional steps would need to be taken to realize the ceasefire's potential, said a spokesman for foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

He also said: "The parties should also work towards the resumption of a political process under Yemeni leadership and under the auspices of the United Nations." All efforts to find a political solution to the conflict have so far failed.

jul/dpa