Yemeni Government, Houthis Agree On Mass Prisoners Exchange - Houthis Official

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published March 20, 2023 | 09:13 PM

The Yemeni government and the Houthi movement, known officially as Ansar Allah that controls north of the country, on Monday agreed on a mass exchange of prisoners of war during talks in Geneva held under the auspices of the United Nations, the head of the Houthis' prisoner affairs committee said on Monday

DOHA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2023) The Yemeni government and the Houthi movement, known officially as Ansar Allah that controls north of the country, on Monday agreed on a mass exchange of prisoners of war during talks in Geneva held under the auspices of the United Nations, the head of the Houthis' prisoner affairs committee said on Monday.

"Negotiations on the prisoner files have concluded today, and we managed to reach an agreement on the exchange of 706 of our prisoners for 181 prisoners of the other side, including Saudi and Sudanese nationals. The exchange will take place in three weeks," Abdulqader al-Murtada said on Twitter.

The list of prisoners, who will return to the territories controlled by the Houthi rebels, also included women and civilians, Houthis spokesman Mohammed Abdessalam said, adding that the other side decided to hand over 15 Saudis and three Sudanese citizens.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces and the Houthi rebels since 2014.

The situation was exacerbated in March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition, working in cooperation with the internationally-recognized Yemeni government, began conducting air, land and sea operations against the Houthis. The latter have retaliated by attacking Saudi forces and firing missiles into Saudi Arabia.

In April 2022, a two-month ceasefire was declared in Yemen under the auspices of the United Nations and the support of the parties to the conflict. In early August, the warring sides agreed to extend the truce until October 2 to negotiate an expanded truce.

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced on October 2 that the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels had failed to negotiate the extension of the truce. The rebels refused to extend the deal demanding instead that the government pay officials in the Houthi-controlled areas and threatening to hit oil infrastructure in Yemen and neighboring countries unless their demands are met.