RIYADH, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry welcomed on Saturday a two-month truce in Yemen announced by the United Nations, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced on Friday the two-month truce, which will become effective at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) on Saturday, through which all forms of military operations inside Yemen and on the Saudi-Yemeni borders shall be halted.
In appreciation of the efforts exerted by the UN special envoy, the Saudi ministry said the truce comes in the context of a Saudi initiative, first announced in March 2021, to reach a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis.
The Yemeni Houthi rebels have also expressed welcome to the UN-backed truce, which comes just days after the Houthis announced a unilateral three-day cease-fire with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Under the truce, the warring sides have agreed to allow fuel ships to enter ports in the Hodeidah region and commercial flights to operate from the airport in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa for humanitarian purposes.
The nationwide truce, which coincides with the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is probably the first of its kind in the Yemeni civil war since late 2014.
It is worth noting that the Yemeni peace talks, backed by the United Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council, started in Riyadh with a closed-door meeting on Tuesday and are expected to continue until April 7.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.
