Conflict in Yemen: Mattis and Pompeo call for a speedy ceasefire


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A Yemeni member of the administration of a school inspects the damage on the first day of the new school year, September 16, 2018, in a school damaged last year during an air strike .

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The air strikes caused a lot of damage and many civilian casualties

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have both called for a speedy ceasefire in Yemen.

Mattis said the United States wanted to see all sides around the table and end the air strikes within 30 days.

In a separate statement, Pompeo said the UN-led talks to help end the civil war are set to resume next month.

Yemen is facing a growing humanitarian disaster as the four-year-old conflict continues.

The administration of US President Donald Trump is under increasing pressure for his support of the Saudi-led coalition that supports the Yemeni government against Houthi rebels.

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Critics say the coalition bombing is causing unacceptable numbers of civilian deaths and fueling the humanitarian crisis.

The assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has heightened the focus on US-Saudi relations.

What did the US officials say?

Mattis, speaking at the US Peace Institute in Washington, said the United States has been monitoring the conflict "for quite some time."

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"We have to move towards a peace effort here, and we can not say we will do it in the future, we have to do it in the next 30 days," he said.

He added that the United States urged all parties to meet with United Nations Special Envoy Martin Griffiths in Sweden in November and "find a solution".

In a separate statement, Mr. Pompeo called for stopping all coalition air strikes in populated areas of Yemen. He also urged Houthi rebels to stop launching missiles in Saudi Arabia.

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"It is time to end this conflict, replace it with a compromise and allow the Yemeni people to heal through peace and reconstruction," he said.

Pompeo said Griffiths' November peace talks aimed to "implement confidence-building measures to address the underlying issues of the conflict, demilitarization of borders and concentration of of all major weapons under international observation ".

Why is there a war in Yemen?

Yemen was devastated by a conflict that intensified in early 2015, when Houthi rebels took control of much of the western part of the country and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to surrender. To escape abroad.

Alarmed by the rise of a group they saw as an Iranian agent, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and seven other Arab states stepped in to try to re-establish the government.

According to the United Nations, nearly 10,000 people – two-thirds of whom are civilians – were killed and another 55,000 wounded.

The fighting and the partial blockade of the coalition also left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid, created the greatest food security emergency in the world and led to a cholera epidemic that would have affected one million people .

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