The United Nations has announced a new ceasefire in war-ravaged Yemen from early Thursday, after a week of escalated fighting sparked new international calls to end the conflict. A UN statement said Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed "welcomes the restoration of the Cessation of Hostilities, which will spare the Yemeni people further bloodshed and will allow for the expanded delivery of humanitarian assistance." Ahmed said he had received assurances from all Yemeni parties to cease hostilities at 11:59 p.m. Yemen time on Oct. 19 "for an initial period of 72 hours, subject to renewal." He said the warring factions had agreed to follow the terms and conditions of a temporary April ceasefire agreement. He expressed hope that the upcoming ceasefire would lead "to a permanent and lasting end to the conflict." Ahmed said the agreement obliges all parties "to allow free and unhindered access for humanitarian supplies and personnel" to all parts of Yemen. The ceasefire agreement was announced a day after Ahmed met in London with US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson as a flurry of diplomacy focused on the impoverished war-torn country. Yemen has been rocked by war since the Shiite Houthi rebels and allied forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran Sanaa in September 2014. Arab Coalition began a campaign against the rebels in March 2015. UNICEF's representative in Sanaa Mohammed Al-Assadi told reporters Sunday that "10 million" children in Yemen need "water, food, medicine, social protection, and general services". The United States, Britain and the UN peace envoy on Sunday urged the warring parties in Yemen's civil war to declare a ceasefire. Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdulmalek Al-Mekhlafi welcomed the truce which he said will be extended if the rebels adhere to it, activate a truce observing committee, end a months-long siege of Taiz and allow "unrestricted" humanitarian aid into the loyalist-controlled third city. Before the UN announcement, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir also said Riyadh was in favor of a truce if the rebels respect it. This is the sixth attempt to establish a Yemen ceasefire. The April truce declared in conjunction with the start of peace talks in Kuwait was hardly observed on the ground. It collapsed as the talks ended in August with no breakthrough, prompting an intensified round of fighting. In a rapid escalation, Washington said the rebels targeted American warships in the Red Sea on Oct. 9 and 12 with missiles that fell short. The US then hit radar sites in rebel-controlled territory in Washington's first direct action against the insurgents. However, deescalation swiftly followed as the coalition on Saturday acknowledged that one of its warplanes had "wrongly targeted" the funeral in Sanaa based on "incorrect information". It announced disciplinary measures, compensation for the families of victims and an easing of the air blockade it enforces to allow the most seriously wounded to be evacuated for treatment abroad. — AP
