Yemen

The UN Human Rights Office warns civilians in Yemen are increasingly being used as fodder by all warring parties in their quest to gain control of the country, a situation that continues to elude them all after seven years of civil war.

At least 50 rebels and pro-government troops, including a high-ranking officer, have been killed in clashes in Yemen’s central province of Al-Bayda, military sources told AFP on Thursday.

There has been no let-up in more than six years of conflict in Yemen, as a growing “climate of fear” among civilians continues, a panel of UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Wednesday.

Sixty-five Houthi rebels and pro-government forces have been killed in renewed fighting for the strategic Yemeni city of Marib, a military official told AFP on Thursday. … The fighting comes after strikes on Yemen’s largest airbase, in the country’s south, killed at least 30 pro-government fighters on Sunday in the deadliest incident since December.

At least 30 soldiers killed and 60 wounded in rebel attacks on major military base housing Saudi-led forces.

[…] “It is imperative to resume an inclusive, Yemeni-led political process to reach a negotiated solution to the conflict,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, referring to a 2015 peace plan, which called for a nationwide ceasefire, the reopening of Sana’a airport, the easing of restrictions on fuel and goods flowing through Hudaydah port, and the resumption of face-to-face political negotiations.

The 15-member council approved Grundberg this week as a replacement for Martin Griffiths, who became the UN aid chief last month after trying to mediate an end to the conflict in Yemen for the past three years.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to shortly name Swedish diplomat Hans Grundberg as his new Yemen envoy, diplomats said, after China informally gave the greenlight for the appointment following a delay of several weeks.

The World Food Program warns Yemen's already alarming hunger crisis is worsening due to ongoing conflict and a rapidly declining economy that are sending food prices soaring.  

The Security Council decided … to extend, until 15 July 2022, the mandate of the United Nations Mission to support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) established on 16 January 2019 following intra-Yemeni peace consultations held in Stockholm, Sweden.