Yemeni government and southern separatists agree on new ceasefire

The internationally recognized government of Yemen, backed by Saudi Arabia, and southern separatists have agreed to a ceasefire in Abyan province on Monday and a return to dialogue after the southerners took the strategic island of Socotra, Efe news agency reported. The Yemeni government and the Southern Transition Council (STC) are part of an alliance, the Arab coalition, which is fighting against the Hutu militias backed by Iran and which triggered the conflict in the country in 2014 by taking over the capital Sana'a.

Although the CTS and the Yemeni executive in exile chaired by Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi share space in the Arab coalition and both fight the Hutus, there are also great differences between them, which have led them to clashes. In August 2019, CTS forces launched an offensive to take over Aden, the internationally recognized seat of government. Both sides managed to reach a truce that led to a new peace agreement in November, known as the Riyadh Agreement. The CTS considered in April that the terms agreed upon had not been fulfilled and declared the self-government of the area they control. 

Al Jaber has acknowledged that the agreement reached in April faced "several challenges that led to its interruption and derailment", and has indicated that its implementation requires "political will and serious cooperation between the two parties". The separatists completely broke the agreement on April 26 when they declared autonomy for southern Yemen and began to conquer territories in the southern governorates.

Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki called on the parties "to put the national interests of Yemen, its people, security and stability first" and to end the bloodshed through the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement with a normalization of the situation in Socotra and a ceasefire in Abyan. 

Al Malki has stressed that the coalition rejects any behaviour that undermines security and stability and contravenes the Riyadh Agreement in the liberated areas. He has also noted that the coalition will maintain efforts to unite the ranks of the Yemeni people, narrow the differences between its components and support attempts to restore the nation. The alliance will deploy observers to Abyan to monitor the ceasefire and the separation of forces and has called on all Yemenis to support the upcoming meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

Abyan province is currently the scene of fighting between government troops and southern separatists, who have so far taken control of Aden, Lahj, Dalea and last Saturday the strategic island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean off the Yemeni coast.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said on Monday that he was "deeply concerned" about the "forced" seizure of the institutions of the archipelago, which is a UNESCO heritage site. He also called on the internationally recognized government of President Hadi and the separatists in the south to return to the Riyadh agreement under the protection of Saudi Arabia. The UN believes that Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, is experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis on the planet, and that this is compounded by the outbreak of COVID-19. The country does not have the necessary infrastructure to deal with the health emergency and its civilian population is highly exposed to contagion.