Yemeni loyalists and Houthis begin exchange of hundreds of prisoners

The swap, which was expected to include 375 Iran-backed rebels and 285 pro-government fighters, took place in the southern province of Lahj, along the border with Bayda province.

Soldiers loyal to Yemen’s government ride atop a tank in the country’s southwestern city of Taez on December 16, 2015. Reuters

ADEN // Yemeni pro-government forces and Houthi rebels began an exchange of hundreds of detainees on Wednesday, as UN-brokered peace talks continued for a second day in Switzerland.

“We have started the exchange in small groups,” said Mokhtar Al Rabbash, a tribal dignitary and member of the prisoners’ affairs committee which is close to the government.

The swap, which was expected to include 375 Iran-backed rebels and 285 loyalist fighters, took place in the southern province of Lahj, along the border with Bayda province.

“Due to the security situation, we had to divide the prisoners into groups of 20 each,” said Mr Al Rabbash, adding that the detainees were being transferred in buses.

Military sources in the area warned that security threats along the exchange route could slow the process.

The International Committee of the Red Cross in Sanaa, which was involved in a previous prisoner swap, had previously said it was “not aware of such an exchange”.

Prisoner swaps are rare between those fighting in Yemen’s war, which the UN estimates has killed 5,800 people – half of them civilians – since March.

Meanwhile, little news emerged from the open-ended talks in Switzerland, which were undermined on Wednesday by further breaches by the Houthis of a day-old ceasefire that was meant to hold for a week.

“The number of violations is around 150,” Saudi-led coalition spokesman Brig Gen Ahmed Al Assiri told Al Ekhbariya television in Saudi Arabia yesterday.

At least 42 people were killed in clashes along several front lines on Wednesday, including in the provinces of Ibb, Bayda, Marib, Jawf, and Taez, according to security officials,

Houthi shelling killed six civilians in the besieged city of Taez, the capital of Taez province, said the neutral officials.

Yemen’s conflict pits the Iran-backed rebels and army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh against forces loyal to the internationally recognised government of president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi. Mr Hadi’s government is backed by a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Arab states that includes the UAE.

The coalition said a Saudi soldier was also killed “while protecting the kingdom’s borders from aggressing rebels” in the kingdom’s southwestern Najran area, the Spa state news agency reported.

By evening, however, most of the fighting had subsided.

Previous ceasefires have collapsed, and earlier UN efforts have failed to narrow differences between the parties.

The government insists the Houthis comply with a UN resolution that requires them to hand over weapons and withdraw from territory they captured over the past year, including the capital, Sanaa. The Houthis, meanwhile, have demanded that the country’s political future be decided through negotiations.

UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has called the ceasefire “a critical first step towards building a lasting peace in the country”.

Brig Gen Ahmed Al Assiri said the alliance’s leadership “realises that this is an important and crucial phase to find a peaceful solution, but has a military commitment to respond to violations”.

Mr Hadi has said he wants the seven-day ceasefire to be “renewed automatically if the other party commits to it”, the coalition said.

UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said on Tuesday that 12 negotiators and six advisers made up each of the two delegations attending the peace talks.

“These consultations seek to establish a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, secure improvements to the humanitarian situation and a return to a peaceful and orderly political transition,” he said.

* Agence France-Presse, Associated Press