Taiz residents view talks with hope, trepidation
195 views · Published 11 December 2018 · 2:11 · Indexed 2 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(6 Dec 2018) Residents of the contested Yemeni city of Taiz are watching Thursday's peace talks in Sweden with a mixture of trepidation and hope. They are hopeful of a positive outcome from the meetings, which are being held in Rimbo, but say that clashes have intensified since the talks got underway. The city of Taiz in the mountainous south-eastern corner of the country saw some of the fiercest fighting between the popular militias, who allied with the internationally recognised government in Aden and the Saudi-led coalition, and the Houthis, who maintain control of parts of the city. Representatives from Yemen's warring sides sat in the same room for the first time in years on Thursday as UN-sponsored peace talks aimed at halting a catastrophic three-year war opened to great hopes but also high scepticism. The UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, announced on Thursday the sides had agreed on a prisoner exchange as a first step towards building confidence. The international Red Cross said it will oversee the implementation of this prisoner exchange, hailing it as "one of the first positive steps for Yemen". The fighting in Yemen has generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis and claimed at least 10,000 lives, with experts estimating a much higher toll. During the three-year war, Saudi-led air strikes hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties, and the Houthis fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/07e2e00c02349f6240d5a565a80d4587
