Yemen's internationally recognised government and the Houthi rebels have signed an agreement to release thousands of detainees from both sides, the UN and the Houthis announced on Tuesday.
Abdulqader Al Mortada, an official with the Houthi delegation, said in a statement on X that the group signed an agreement to implement a "large-scale" prisoner exchange deal involving 1,700 Houthi-linked prisoners in exchange for 1,200 from the government side, including seven Saudis and 23 Sudanese.
The office of the UN envoy for Yemen said in a statement that the parties to the conflict concluded a 12-day meeting in Oman.
“Reaching an agreement over another phase of the release of conflict-related detainees is a positive and meaningful step that will hopefully ease the suffering of detainees and their families across Yemen,” UN envoy Hans Grundberg said.
“The agreement’s effective implementation will require the continued engagement and co-operation of the parties, co-ordinated regional support and sustained efforts to build on this progress toward further releases.”
Oman welcomed the agreement signed in Muscat on Tuesday and commended the "positive spirit that prevailed during the negotiations from December 9 to 23 of this year".
The prisoner exchange agreement comes after the Southern Transitional Council (STC) sought to sideline the government and called for a military offensive to liberate Houthi-controlled northern Yemen.
Forces loyal to the STC, which is a part of the government but seeks to re-establish a separate state in south Yemen, seized control of southern governorates in recent weeks. The STC accused the Presidential Leadership Council of failing to secure areas like Hadhramaut and Al Mahra from extremist groups and smuggling.
The UN warned that unilateral actions would "deepen divisions, harden positions and raise the risk of wider escalation and further fragmentation".
Yemen was plunged into civil war after the Iran-backed Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen in 2014, forcing the government to move south to the port city of Aden. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened the following year in an attempt to reinstate the government.
The Saudi Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al Jaber, welcomed the prisoner exchange agreement, saying in a post on X that it "strengthens efforts to de-escalate tensions and build trust in Yemen".
