Saudi-led coalition calls truce in Yemen

Al-Mayadeen News Channel quoted the spokesman for the coalition as saying the truce will be effective from 6 am local time.

Turki Al-Maliki claimed the decision was made in response to a request by the secretary general of the GCC and because negotiations in Riyadh aimed at creating a positive atmosphere to establish peace were successful.

Maliki added that the cessation of hostilities is meant to make it possible for all sides to find a lasting political solution to the Yemen crisis. The decision by the Saudi-led coalition comes over 7 years after the beginning of the war on Yemen in March 2015.

During the war, the Yemeni forces dealt heavy blows to the coalition both in Yemen and deep inside Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Some observers believe that Yemen’s missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia and the UAE forced the coalition to accept the ceasefire. The latest attack happened several days ago and targeted Saudi Arabia’s vital installations belonging to its oil giant, Aramco Company. Some reports say the Saudis suffered $1 billion dollars in losses in the latest missile and drone strike. Accordingly, 4 million barrels of oil were burned in the attack.

The Saudi-led war on Yemen has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, mostly civilians. It has also reduced most of Yemen’s infrastructure to rubble and has created a humanitarian catastrophe, which the UN describes as the worst on earth.