(Pictures) US, Saudi discuss elusive peace in savage Yemen war, yet fighting continues

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to the kingdom on Sunday and reviewed what the White House called "significant progress" in Yemen peace efforts, the White House said.

"He reviewed significant progress in talks to further consolidate the now 15-month-long truce in Yemen and welcomed ongoing UN-led efforts to bring the war to a close, as well as covering a range of other issues," the White House statement said.   

US special envoy Tim Lenderking traveled to Oman and Saudi Arabia earlier this month to seek to advance Yemen peace efforts, the State Department said.

Despite recent peace negotiations fighting still broke out last Saturday (May 6) between government forces and Houthi militia in Yemen's southwestern governorate of Taiz, resulting in multiple casualties, a government military official said.   

The conflict, which lasted for several hours, was triggered by an attempted infiltration by Houthi fighters into positions held by Yemeni government forces on the eastern outskirts of Taiz province, stated the local military source, who requested anonymity.   

The government forces successfully repelled the Houthi assault, resulting in the death of four Houthi fighters and injuries to five others, the official confirmed, adding that two soldiers from the government side lost their lives during the fighting.   

The Houthi group has yet to respond to the conflict.   

A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the government from the capital Sanaa.   

A Saudi delegation, which is seeking a permanent ceasefire deal to end military involvement in the war, concluded peace talks in mid-April in Sanaa with the Houthi group, whose top negotiator said talks had made progress and further discussions would be held.   

Yemen's conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions hungry, has widely been seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.   

This last clash, however, was not the only recent incident as a roadside bomb exploded next to a military ambulance in Yemen's southern province of Abyan last Friday, killing two soldiers and wounding three others, a security official revealed.   

The local official asked to remain anonymous said the ambulance was blasted by the homemade bomb when it was transporting soldiers of Yemeni government forces wounded in sporadic fighting with al-Qaida militants.   

The official said that the explosive device was pre-planted on the side of the road in the Mudiyah district where the ambulance would be passing.   

The sudden escalation in violence is regrettable as the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebel group have both announced their readiness to resume UN-facilitated negotiations on the exchange of prisoners and detainees.   

In a statement released last Wednesday night (May 3), the Yemeni government's prisoner affairs committee voiced its readiness to join the meetings this coming weekend on May 15 that aimed at putting an end to the plight of prisoners held in Houthi jails.   

The committee called on the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to continue facilitating the exchange of prisoners between the warring Yemeni sides without preconditions.   

It also reaffirmed the Yemeni government's commitment to free all prisoners and put an end to the humanitarian issue on the basis of an "all-for-all" principle.   

For their part, officials from the Houthi rebel group in Yemen's capital Sanaa also said they were fully ready to join the next round of negotiations on prisoner exchange.   

Abdulkadir al-Murtada, head of the Houthi prisoner affairs committee, said he met with the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg and his team in Sanaa and discussed ways to advance the prisoner exchange issue.   

According to al-Murtada, the Houthis have informed the UN envoy of their willingness to have mutual prison visits as previously arranged and participate in the upcoming negotiations in mid-May.   

The negotiations slated for May may result in the release of more prisoners, end the suffering of thousands of war prisoners, and provide relief to their families in the impoverished Arab country, analysts say.   

The UN-brokered negotiations in March successfully led to the release of around 900 prisoners in April, marking the second-largest prisoner exchange between the warring sides since the start of the Yemen civil war over eight years ago.   

High-profile figures, including Nasser Mansour Hadi, the brother of former Yemeni president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and Mahmoud Al Subeihi, the country's former defense minister, were among those who were freed last month.   

The prisoner swap is part of ongoing efforts to build trust between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi militia, who have been engaged in a brutal internal conflict since late 2014.   

It is also widely regarded as a crucial step toward preparing favorable conditions for and demonstrating both parties' commitment to forthcoming negotiations aimed at achieving a lasting peace.   

Yemen has been embroiled in a years-long military conflict after the Houthi militia took control of several northern cities and ousted the Yemeni government from Sanaa in 2014.   

The ongoing conflict has resulted in a staggering number of casualties and has plunged the Arab world's poorest country into humanitarian crises, including widespread famine.   

(Staff and agencies)

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