Aden (Yemen), Dec 25 Yemen's internationally recognised government and the Houthi group have signed an agreement to recover and exchange thousands of bodies from both sides of the conflict, said officials from the two warring parties.
Abdul Qader al-Murtada, head of the Houthis' prisoner affairs committee, said on social media platform X on Wednesday (local time) that the deal covers bodies from all frontlines and regions in Yemen, and that joint field committees will be formed for implementation.
Hadi Haig, head of the Yemeni government's prisoner exchange committee, confirmed the agreement, according to a report by Xinhua news agency.
The move follows a separate deal reached Tuesday that includes the release of 1,700 Houthi detainees in exchange for 1,200 government-affiliated detainees, as well as seven Saudi nationals and 23 Sudanese nationals held by the Houthis.
The detainees swap deal came after a 12-day meeting held in the Sultanate of Oman, according to Hans Grundberg, the UN special envoy for Yemen, who welcomed the deal as "a positive and meaningful step that will hopefully ease the suffering of detainees and their families across Yemen."
Yemen has been gripped by conflict since late 2014 when Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognised government.
A UN-mediated truce between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group, brokered in April 2022, lasted six months before expiring. However, both sides have largely maintained a "de facto ceasefire" since then.
The last major UN-mediated detainees swap between the two sides took place in 2023, with around 900 detainees released.
Meanwhile, Yemen's presidency on Sunday strongly rejected statements by ministers and government bodies based in the southern port city of Aden that expressed support for the pro-secession Southern Transitional Council (STC).
Citing a source in the presidency, the state-run Saba news agency said Rashad Al-Alimi, chief of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), had reviewed recent statements by ministers and other officials that "exceeded their functional responsibilities" and ran counter to the constitution and the agreed references governing the transitional period.
The source warned that the use of official positions to advance political agendas outside the constitutional framework constitutes a serious violation of the law.
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