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UN agencies slam rising fighting in Yemen

Xinhua, August 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN secretary-general's special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, strongly condemned the increasing violations to the cessation of hostilities in Yemen, a UN spokesman said here Friday.

The UN envoy also urged the parties to speed up their efforts to find a comprehensive, political solution to the conflict, Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"The United Nations remains fully committed to bringing peace to Yemen, but the process requires good faith and concessions from all sides," he said.

The special envoy called on all parties to show restraint and refrain from any action which undermines efforts to bringing about a peaceful, political solution to the conflict.

Meanwhile, UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen Jamie McGoldrick also voiced alarm on Friday at the intensification of violence across the country.

He said that the people of Yemen continued to bear the brunt of the suffering as a result of the inability of the parties to find a political solution.

On Friday, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the numbers of civilian casualties in the conflict has been steadily mounting recently, with a sharp increase last week, Haq added.

Intense fighting was reported in Yemen over the past months. The UN-brokered negotiations began in Kuwait on April 21 under the auspices of the United Nations to seek a reconciliation to end more than a year of civil war in Yemen.

The talks were the third of its kind since the conflict began after Houthi militias stormed the capital Sanaa and expelled Hadi with his government into exile in September 2014. Previous peace negotiations had failed to end hostilities.

The civil war has drawn in Saudi-led coalition on March 2015, in response to President Hadi's call to restore his internationally recognized government in the capital Sanaa.

The civil war has killed more than 6,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more 35,000 others, and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian aid agencies.

Yemen's conflict began after 2011 massive popular protests that demanded an end to the 33-year rule of then President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Endit