Yemen faces highest risk of returning to war since 2022 truce, UN warns

Yemen is now closer to renewed all-out war than it has been at any point since the 2022 truce was struck, a United Nations envoy has warned.

Military activity has intensified across Yemen’s frozen front lines in recent days, with attacks causing military and civilian casualties, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council on Thursday.

Fighters from the Iran-aligned Houthi group have clashed with government forces in regions of Marib, Hadramout, al-Makha (Mocha) and elsewhere.

Forces of the Aden-based internationally recognised government reported repelling a Houthi attack on Taiz , and on Wednesday the government reported carrying out artillery and drone attacks against Houthi forces across several governorates.

On Wednesday, the head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council said every action undertaken by the Houthis will be met with “ a comprehensive response or deterrence ”.

The UN special envoy called on the parties to immediately de-escalate and work towards a robust ceasefire.

Renewed Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea also risk drawing Yemen into the wider ongoing regional confrontation between the US and Iran, Grundberg warned.

Grundberg also highlighted the need to work on “economic de-escalation” for the Yemeni economy, which has been decimated by a decade of civil war.