CAIRO — Yemeni warring parties resumed negotiations Sunday on reopening roads throughout the country, according to the United Nations. They had previously agreed to renew a cease-fire across the nation.
According to the U.N. mission in Yemen, delegations representing the internationally recognized government of Yemen and Iran-backed Houthi rebels started their second round of direct discussions in Amman, Jordan.
The mission didn’t provide any further information.
In their first round late last month of talks, the two sides failed to reach an agreement about lifting the rebels’ blockade of Taiz (Yemen’s third-largest city).
The U.N. brokered a truce in April that involved reopening roads around Taiz and other areas of Yemen. This was the first cease-fire nationwide in Yemen in six years of its brutal conflict. It is now in its eighth anniversary.
Since March 2016, the Houthis have placed a siege on Taiz, capital of the same province, by placing siege to its government-held buildings.
After concerted pressure from international aid groups and the U.N, the two sides reached an agreement on Thursday to extend their truce for another two months.
The civil war in Yemen broke out in 2014 when the Houthis took Sanaa, the capital, and most of northern Yemen. This forced the government to flee the country. To restore power to the government, the Saudi-led coalition joined the conflict in 2015
This conflict created one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world and has killed more than 150,000 people, which includes over 14,500 civilians.
