Yemeni Gov’t Agrees to UN Proposal on Lifting Houthi Siege of Taiz

A Yemeni government delegation on Tuesday accepted a UN proposal on lifting the Houthi siege on the city of Taiz, state-run Yemen TV reported. The delegation negotiated the issue with representatives of the Houthi rebels in Jordan’s capital Amman under the auspices of UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg. The Houthis, who control large areas in northern Yemen, have not commented on the issue. Grundberg said in a written statement on Monday that he presented the revised proposal, based on discussions with both sides, but he revealed no details about the proposal. Taiz, a government-controlled enclave surrounded by Houthi-controlled areas, has been under siege since Yemen’s civil war erupted in late 2014. Lifting the blockade would facilitate the movement of citizens and their access to much-needed humanitarian aid. Yemen’s civil war began in late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces, forcing the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of starvation, with nearly 80% of the country’s population in need of some form of assistance, in what has been described as currently one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.