Spotlight: Gunfire diminishes in Yemen ahead of UN-backed truce

Clashes and gunfires between Shiite Houthi rebels and Sunni government forces diminished in Yemen on Sunday, just hours before the fresh UN-sponsored cease-fire comes into effect this midnight.

Guns almost silenced in major battlefronts across the day, sending signals of hope to mark an end to this dirty sectarian war that hungered and displaced more than two millions of the approximately 25 million population trapped in the fighting.

The UN eyes the temporary truce as a cornerstone that would pave way for the peace talks due to take place later this week in Kuwait.

"The major international pressure goal to reach an agreed political settlement in the Yemeni conflict was to unite rival forces for a later war on terrorism such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State branch in Yemen," said Fayiz al-Kharifi, a senior security expert who is close to the political and security departments of the Houthi group and its ally former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

"Prolonging the war more than a year is against the interests and capacity of Houthi and Saleh," he told Xinhua.

The one year old war has killed more than 6,000 people, mostly civilians and decreased the control of the Houthi and Saleh's forces.

Backed by elite Republican Guard forces loyal to former President Saleh, the Houthi militia stormed the capital Sanaa on Sept. 21, 2014, and extended their control over the rest of the impoverished country before an international intervention by a Saudi-led coalition forces in March last year.

The coalition backed the government forces loyal to the internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and took back from the rebels almost the south part of the country, including the temporary capital port city of Aden since July last year.

The Saudi-led coalition launched only one airstrike against the rebels on Hilan mountain in the southwest province of Taiz. No casualties were reported.

In return, the rebels fired Katyusha rockets on the Saudi-backed government forces stationed in Haifan district in Taiz, injuring at least six civilians, according to medics.

Despite the intensified clashes in Taiz's most front lines of Dhabab area over the past 24 hours, guns today afternoon were almost silent, according to local monitors and residents.

Sporadic clashes were reported from northern Al-Jouf province, where residents said the government forces retook back from Houthi rebels some posts north of Al-Mutoon district. But the residents said the clashes were stopped after an hour this morning.

Also, no clashes were reported in the northeast province of Marib and its battlefront of Nihm district for the second straight day.

"We heard nearly no sound of shooting in Nihm today," Ali Mutahar Hamoud, a resident in near Nihm district, told Xinhua by phone.

Nihm is about less than 30 km east of the rebel-held capital Sanaa, where Saudi-backed government forces have made their major advance to Nihm since the beginning of this year to pave the way for storming the capital once if peace talks collapsed.

The government advance to Nihm pressed the Houthi group to open channels with the Saudi government itself to seek peace solutions to prevent the government forces from invading the capital.

The Houthis' move succeeded. They sent a delegation to Saudi Arabia last month under a mediation of a neighboring Gulf state, reaching a settlement with Saudis that ends war on the sharing borders and exchanges prisoners.

Both sides stated their growing concerns of al-Qaida and Islamic State (IS) branch and the need of ending the war, seeking a political solution and uniting efforts to fight terrorism.

The Sunni al-Qaida now is controlling the largest and richest southeastern province of Hadramout, taking advantage of the sectarian conflict with Shiite Houthi group.

Al-Qaida and IS fighters are Also involved in fighting against the Houthis and Saleh's forces southern provinces of Taiz and Lahj.

Despite all international efforts to end the war, the Houthi group continued Sunday to appoint a number of its members in high jobs in the ministries they controlled in the capital Sanaa.

Sanaa and other northern cities under the Houthi control, have been without electricity, fuel, cooking gas, medicine, food and water since the Houthi group took over them in September 2014 until today.

The Houthi group blamed the lack of essential services to Saudi Arabia. Saudis say they prevent only weapons to reach ports of Yemen.

"Enough is enough to this dirty war," said Abdullah Abdul Wahid, a resident of the capital.

"It's a message to the inside and outside who are fighting over controlling the power and money. Stop your mess, We are the people are not part of your sectarian and regional political interests. We want you to let us live in dignity," Abdul Wahid said. Endit