Yemen: new round of prisoner exchange talks possibly by end of the year

Hundreds of prisoners were freed earlier this month in the biggest operation since the start of the war

Exchanged Yemeni prisoners loyal to the Houthis shout slogans upon their arrival at Sanaa airport on the second day of a prisoner exchange between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, in Sanaa. EPA

Yemen's warring sides are expected to hold a new round of prisoner exchange talks by end of the year, officials told The National as Saudi Arabia intercepted several drones launched by the rebels on Tuesday.

Hundreds of prisoners were freed earlier this month in the biggest exchange operation between Yemen's internationally recognised government and Houthi rebels since the war started in 2015.

Nearly 680 Houthi rebels and 400 pro-government fighters were flown between the capital Sanaa and the government-controlled city of Aden.

“We informed the UN of our readiness to participate in a new round of negotiations to agree on a deal that includes all prisoners, or a partial deal that includes more numbers than in the last deal," a Houthi official, Abdul Qadir Al Murtada, said on Twitter.

A member of the government committee for the prisoners exchange confirmed an upcoming round of talks, possibly by the end of the year.

“The talks will focus on the release of four Yemeni officials, including the brother of Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi, Brigadier General Nasser Mansour Hadi,” he said.

A UN official close to the warring sides told The National they are in process of planning the next meeting.

October’s exchange was agreed during UN-led talks in Switzerland earlier this year.

The UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council, after the conclusion of the operation, that it was an "airlift of hope".

"This will bring immense relief and comfort to all those families who waited so long to be reunited as well as to other families, close relations, friends and members of their communities," he said.

The development comes as Saudi Arabia, which is leading an Arab coalition against the Houthis, said it has intercepted several drones launched by the rebels towards civilian areas in the kingdom.

On Tuesday, the coalition said they managed to destroy a drone that was launched by the rebels in “a systematic and deliberate manner to target civilians in the southern region.”

The coalition said one drone was intercepted on Monday morning and a second was fired and destroyed later on Monday's evening, SPA reported, quoting a coalition spokesman.

Meanwhile, the UN said that parts of Yemen are seeing their highest levels of acute malnutrition in children.

"We've been warning since July that Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food security crisis. If the war doesn't end now, we are nearing an irreversible situation and risk losing an entire generation of Yemen's young children," said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande.

Drivers of malnutrition in Yemen worsened in 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic, economic decline, floods, escalating conflict and significant underfunding of this year's aid response have compounded an already bleak hunger situation after almost six years of war.