Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council agreed on Sunday to join a ceasefire in Aden, thereby responding to the Saudi-led coalition’s calls for stopping hostilities, Trend reports citing Sputnik.
On Saturday, the Security Belt Forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council seized military camps, government buildings and the presidential palace in the port city of Aden, which has been the seat of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. Riyadh, supporting the latter in its separate fight against Houthi rebels, has urged conflicting sides in Aden to hold urgent peace talks in the kingdom. The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Col. Turki Maliki, in turn, called for an immediate ceasefire in Aden, starting at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday (22:00 GMT Saturday), and threatened those who would violate the truce with military force.
"The spokesman for the Southern Transitional Council, Eng. Nizar Haitham, confirmed the Transitional Council positive response to the statement of the leadership of the Arab Coalition, expressing its full commitment to the cease-fire," the council said in a statement, published on its website.
The violence in Aden erupted on Wednesday as security forces guarding the presidential palace in Aden engaged in clashes with the separatist forces. The ongoing escalation has already left dozens killed and injured. Moreover, media outlets point to the possibility of a new front opening in Yemen's civil war.