The Yemeni government announced, on Tuesday, that Egypt agreed to operate direct flights between Sanaa, which is under the control of the Houthi rebels, and Cairo, as part of a truce in the impoverished, war-torn country.
This comes following the first commercial flight took off last week in six years from Sanaa to the Jordanian capital, Amman.
And the Yemeni Foreign Minister, Ahmed bin Mubarak, wrote in a tweet on Twitter: “We express our deep thanks to the brotherly Egyptian government for meeting the request of the Yemeni government and for agreeing to operate direct flights between Sanaa and Cairo in accordance with the armistice agreement.”
“The competent authorities in the two countries will work in the coming days to coordinate and complete the technical procedures for operating the flights,” the Yemeni minister stressed.
For its part, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a statement that Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had received a call from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, in which he expressed his “sincere thanks… for allowing direct flights between Cairo and Sana’a within the framework of the UN armistice in Yemen.” “.
The statement quoted the Egyptian Foreign Minister as expressing his hope that “this step will contribute to the establishment of the UN armistice in Yemen, alleviating the suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people, and contributing to efforts to establish stability and security in Yemen.”
On April 2, a UN-brokered armistice came into effect, to last for two months.
The agreement includes allowing commercial flights from Sanaa International Airport, which has been open only to aid flights since 2016, which represents a rare glimmer of hope in the conflict following a devastating war.
The Yemeni government and Houthi rebels accused each other of violating the truce, but the agreement succeeded in significantly reducing levels of violence.
Last week, the Houthi rebels announced that they were “considering” a possible extension of the UN-brokered truce.
The United Nations envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, had said that he was working with the two sides to overcome challenges” and ensure “the extension of the armistice.”
The conflict in Yemen is between the Houthis, who control Sanaa and other areas in the north and west of the country, and government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition. The conflict has killed more than 377,000 people directly or as a result of the war’s repercussions, according to the United Nations.
