SANA’A (Dispatches) – As a ceasefire deadline in war-ravaged Yemen draws near, civilians hope the truce will be extended -- fearing any fresh Saudi-led aggression would wipe out the small gains they have made.
In the capital Sana’a, agriculture graduate Loujain al-Ouazir has been working to raise goats and chicken poultry for three years on a farm on top of one the ancient city’s iconic mud brick tower houses.
Ouazir only managed to make the farm successful in recent months amid the truce, which allowed goods to move more freely and cut the price of supplies.
“Thanks to the truce, the prices of animal feed and fuel have come down,” Ouazir said. “It’s easier to bring in feed and goats from other regions.”
Saudi Arabia launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015 in collaboration with its Arab allies and with arms and logistics support from the U.S. and other Western states.
The objective was to reinstall the Riyadh-friendly regime of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and crush the popular Ansarullah resistance movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Yemen.
A UN-brokered ceasefire, which took effect in April and has twice been renewed, has reduced casualties by 60 percent and quadrupled fuel imports into the Hudaydah port, more than 40 humanitarian groups said on Thursday.
The truce has largely held, although the Ansarullah has accused the Saudi-backed militants of violations.
Ouazir said the relative peace -- especially an end to air strikes in Sana’a -- has created a safer environment for her business of selling milk and eggs.
The truce is due to expire on Sunday, with the UN working to ensure each side agrees to extend once again.
Under the truce, commercial flights have resumed from the capital Sana’a to Jordan and Egypt, while oil tankers have been able to dock in Hudaydah.
The series of temporary truces have brought some respite to a people exhausted by eight years of Saudi-led assault, where about 23.4 million of Yemen’s population of 30 million rely on humanitarian aid.
But there has been little fundamental progress towards peace.
Meanwhile, Ansarullah had demanded the salaries of the government employees living in the areas controlled by them be paid, stressing the request is a premise for renewing the current truce.
According to a statement posted on the Ansarullah website on Thursday evening, Mahdi al-Mashat, chairman of the movement’s political council, put forward the request when meeting with UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg, who left Sana’a on Thursday afternoon without holding a press conference.