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UN envoy appeals for extending Yemen ceasefire for another 72 hours

Xinhua, October 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Saturday urged all parties to the Yemeni conflict to extend a three-day humanitarian ceasefire for another 72 hours.

The three-day truce brokered by the United Nations went into effect on Wednesday midnight with an aim to facilitate humanitarian aid to the war-stricken cities.

"The ceasefire was largely holding despite reported violations from both sides in several areas," said Ould Cheikh Ahmed in a statement released here, adding that over the last days, UN personnel were able to reach areas that were inaccessible to deliver food and aid.

"We would like to build on this and we aim for a wider outreach in the next few days," he added.

The situation in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015 when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Houthis and Saleh's forces hold most of Yemen's northern regions while government forces backed by Saudi-led military coalition control the rest of the country, including seven southern provinces.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over 2 million, according to humanitarian agencies. Endi