UN envoy asks parties in Yemen to de-escalate violence

The UN envoy for Yemen called on parties in the war-struck country Tuesday to de-escalate violence.

"The parties in #Yemen must de-escalate violence and renew their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. The Yemeni people deserve better than a life of perpetual war," Martin Griffiths wrote on Twitter.

"More than a year ago in #Stockholm, the parties promised the Yemeni people to keep #Hudaydah safe, to use port revenues to pay salaries& to return detainees to their loved ones," Griffiths said.

"They must fulfill these promises&build a conducive environment for the peace process. #YemenCantWait."

Stockholm Agreement

In December, Yemeni government representatives and Houthi rebel leaders held a round of UN-brokered talks in Stockholm which yielded a ceasefire agreement in the Red Sea port city of Al-Hudaydah.

The warring parties, however, have yet to fully withdraw from Al-Hudaydah amid tit-for-tat accusations of truce violations and sporadic clashes in other parts of the country.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa. The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.