UN envoy arrives in Yemen for talks on Hudaydah plan

UN peace envoy Martin Griffiths arrived in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, on Tuesday for talks with Houthi rebels on the implementation of a UN plan for troops redeployment in the coastal city of Al-Hudaydah.

Griffiths arrived aboard a UN plane from the Jordanian capital Amman, a source at the Sanaa Airport said.

The UN envoy has been conducting shuttle diplomacy in the region in an effort to implement a plan for a partial pullout of forces from Al-Hudaydah.

In December, Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government agreed to withdraw troops from the coastal city by Jan. 7.

While the efforts had been delayed and deadlines missed, Griffiths said the warring parties were showing a commitment to follow through on their agreement.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are now at risk of starvation, according to the UN.

The agreement would allow significant amounts of humanitarian access into the region, which has faced some of the worst damage in the four-year-long war.