The UN’s Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, landed at Sana’a international airport in Yemen Monday for talks with Houthis ahead of planned peace talks in Sweden this month. An AFP photographer at the airport said Griffiths did not take questions on arrival. Fifty wounded Houthis will also be evacuated from Sana’a for medical treatment Monday, the […]
The UN’s Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, landed at Sana’a international airport in Yemen Monday for talks with Houthis ahead of planned peace talks in Sweden this month.
An AFP photographer at the airport said Griffiths did not take questions on arrival.
Fifty wounded Houthis will also be evacuated from Sana’a for medical treatment Monday, the report said.
The evacuation on a UN-chartered plane marks a key step in kickstarting stalled negotiations, as the international community presses for an end to the Saudi war on Yemen that has pushed the impoverished Arab country to the brink of famine.
The plane will transport 50 fighters, 50 “escorts,” three Yemeni doctors and one UN doctor to the Omani capital Muscat.
International pressure has mounted in recent weeks to reach a breakthrough in the Saudi-led war.
War coupled with economic collapse has put nearly 14 million Yemenis – half the country’s population – at risk of famine, according to UN agencies.
The World Health Organization estimates over 10,000 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies waged the aggression in 2015.
Rights groups fear the toll could be much higher.
