Yemen’s warring parties agree to establish joint coordination mechanism

ANKARA 

Yemen’s warring sides agreed to launch a joint coordination room Monday to help pave the way for bringing the country’s seven-year war to a close. 

“The military coordination committee agreed to set up a joint coordination room to address main issues of concern in a timely manner,” the office of the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in a statement.

Military representatives from the Yemeni government, the Coalition Joint Forces Command and the Houthis were gathered in Jordan’s capital Amman by the Office of the Special Envoy for Yemen as part of the second meeting of the parties’ military coordination committee.

“The meeting was held in a good atmosphere with the participants engaging constructively on a number of technical issues related to the parties’ commitment to implementing the truce,” added in the statement.

In addition to establishing a joint coordination mechanism, the parties also agreed to nominate focal points for the coordination room within a week to ensure regular communication.

Extension of truce

On Thursday, Grundberg said Yemen’s warring rivals agreed to extend the current truce for two additional months.

Under the truce, which was first reached on April 2, all military operations were halted. The agreement also allowed the operation of commercial flights from rebel-held Sanaa Airport in the Yemeni capital.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since September 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to restore the Yemeni government to power.

The seven-year conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with millions suffering from hunger.

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