Yesterday, the Norwegian Refugee Council announced that the number of civilian casualties in Yemen has dropped by more than fifty percent since the ceasefire began in early April.
“Total civilian casualties reached 95 in April, up from 213 in March,” the council said in a statement, citing data from the Citizen Impact Monitoring Project.
The statement quoted the director of the Norwegian Council for Refugees in Yemen, Erin Hutchinson, as saying “the numbers clearly show the benefits of a truce.”
“For the sake of the Yemeni people and their future, we hope that the parties to the conflict will extend the truce,” she added.
And last month, a United Nations-brokered truce came into effect that will last two months. The agreement includes allowing commercial flights from Sana’a International Airport, which has been open only to aid flights since 2016, representing a glimmer of hope in a conflict after a devastating war.
“We call on the warring parties to honor their commitments and work towards a peaceful resolution to this conflict, which has already caused death, injury and the loss of millions of livelihoods,” Hutchinson said.
She added: “The continued injury and loss of life due to mines shows the urgent need for a lasting peace until the remnants of this war are removed and more lives are saved.”
