The UN Security Council unanimously approved Wednesday (January 16th) the deployment to Yemen of up to 75 monitors in a mission to shore up a ceasefire and oversee a pullback of forces from the Red Sea port city of al-Hodeidah, AFP reported.
The observer mission was agreed during talks last month in Sweden between the Yemeni government and the Houthis (Ansarallah), and an advance team is already on the ground in the city, which is held by the Iran-backed militia.
The unarmed monitors will be sent to al-Hodeidah city and port, as well as to the ports of Saleef and Ras Issa for an initial period of six months.
The UN says a ceasefire that went into force on December 18th in al-Hodeidah has been generally holding, but there have been delays in the redeployment of Houthi and government forces from the city.
The resolution calls on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to "expeditiously" deploy the UN Mission to support the al-Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA), led by retired Dutch General Patrick Cammaert.
Guterres described the mission as a "nimble presence" that will report on violations in al-Hodeidah.
