The UNSC authorized the deployment of UN monitors to observe the implementation of a newly-agreed ceasefire arrangement in Yemen’s vital port of Hudaydah.

Iran PressMiddle East: On Friday, the first UN resolution on Yemen adopted after more than three years in Security Council to support the truce between Houthi Ansarullah movement and the armed militia loyal to former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Based on United Nation Security council vote, monitors also would observe the pullout of rival forces from the flashpoint area, Iran Press Reported.

The warring parties in Yemen reached the ceasefire agreement on the Red Sea Houthi-held port of Hudaydah on December 13.

According to the agreement, two sides must withdraw from the port and hand it over to UN observers.

If implemented, this ceasefire and withdrawal could create a good opportunity to stop an almost four-year Saudi-led imposed war that has caused the world's worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen, with the population of the country facing famine and starvation. 

The fragile truce, halted months of heavy fighting in port city of Hudaydah whose docks handle more than 70 percent of Yemen’s most vital humanitarian imports.

The UNSC resolution authorizes the UN chief “to establish and deploy, for an initial period of 30 days ... an advance team to begin monitoring and to support and facilitate the immediate implementation of the Stockholm agreement.”

It also endorses the truce agreement, a prisoner exchange agreement, and a “statement of understanding” aimed at reducing fighting in the central city of Ta’izz, another hotspot in the Yemeni conflict.

The resolution also requests UN secretary General Antonio Guterres to submit proposals “as soon as possible before December 31” on how the UN will fully support the truce, the redeployment of the rival forces from the port city and other provisions in the agreement.

The resolution adopted as Saudi fighter jet continue their attacks across Houthi-held territories. At least four civilian paramedics were killed in Yemen’s province of Jawf after Saudi fighter jets hit an ambulance.

Leading a coalition of its allies, Saudi Arabia invaded Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Saudi-backed former fugitive Abde Rabe Mansour Hadi, who had resigned amid popular discontent and fled to Riyadh.

Since the onset of aggression, the Yemeni army, backed by fighters from Houthi Ansarullah movement, has been defending the impoverished nation against the invaders. The coalition is also resolute to crush the movement as another goal in its war on Yemen, which is teetering on the edge of famine.

The aggression is estimated to have left 56,000 Yemenis dead.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.   101/ 211 /205

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