UN Welcomes Humanitarian Ceasefire in Yemen
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a decision by conflicting sides in Yemen to implement a humanitarian pause in the ongoing Saudi war on its impoverished Arab country.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Ban has asked all Yemeni parties to take confidence-building steps towards a durable ceasefire.
Dujarric also noted that the UN chief had received assurances from Yemen's fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and Ansarullah fighters that the pause will be "fully respected and that there will be no violations" on either side.
"We have the expressions necessary from all parties to announce the start of this pause on Friday, July 10," Dujarric said, adding, “Full and unhindered access by humanitarian agencies to all parts of the country, including through sea and airports, should be ensured with a view to reaching people in need, including with essential medicines, vaccinations, food and water."
On Thursday, the United Nations announced an unconditional humanitarian pause in Yemen conflict. The truce will take effect at 23:59 local time (2059 GMT) on Friday and will run up to the end of the fasting month of Ramadan on July 17.
The UN says 21 million people are in dire need of aid in Yemen, Press TV reported.
Meanwhile, dozens of civilians have been killed as Saudi Arabia presses ahead with its aerial strikes against its southeastern neighbor.
At least three people were killed in the latest Saudi attacks which targeted the southern province of Shabwa. Saudi warplanes also bombarded the central town of al-Bayda and northwestern Sa'ada Province.
Earlier, two people, including a child, were killed and over two dozen others injured in air raids in the southwestern province of Dhamar.
According to the Beirut-based al-Mayadeen satellite channel, at least 14 members of a same family have been killed after Saudi warplanes targeted a compound in a residential area in the Yemeni province of Amran.
A separate Saudi aerial attack also resulted in the loss of at least eleven civilian lives in the same troubled region.
Yemen's Ansarullah movement and allied army units have fired as many as 150 rockets at several Saudi military bases in the southwestern province of Jizan in retaliation for Saudi Arabia’s ongoing aggression against their country.
Several Saudi soldiers were killed and injured in Yemenis' latest retaliatory attacks.
Saudi warplanes have been bombarding Yemen since March 26 without an authorization from the United Nations and heedless of international calls for an immediate halt to the onslaught.
The UN says over 5,100 Yemenis, including 1,500 civilians, have been killed in the Saudi military campaign.