DUBAI (AFP) – Aid agencies urged Yemen’s warring parties to extend a two-month United Nations (UN)-brokered truce yesterday two days before it was set to expire, saying it had “positive humanitarian impacts”.
A brutal seven-year conflict pitting Yemen’s government against the Huthi rebels has killed hundreds of thousands of people and left millions on the brink of famine.
On April 2, the first nationwide truce since 2016 came into force, but that runs out tomorrow.
“As organisations working across Yemen, we have seen the positive humanitarian impacts of the truce,” said a joint statement by over 30 aid agencies, including Save The Children, Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
Earlier this month, NRC said the number of civilian casualties in Yemen had dropped by more than half since the truce took effect.
“We… urge you to extend the truce agreement, build further on the gains you have made possible over the past two months, and work towards peace for the people of Yemen,” they added.
