UN envoy warns Yemen’s truce is collapsing as fighting nears Bab al-Mandab
Hans Grundberg has urged an end to attacks on civilians and commercial vessels as renewed fighting deepens displacement and food insecurity.
Yemen’s fragile four-year truce is collapsing and the conflict has entered a “new and more dangerous phase”, UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg has told the Security Council.
Grundberg’s warning followed the reported capture of the Red Sea port city of Mocha by Houthi forces. The advance would place the group closer to the Bab al-Mandab strait and raise concerns about navigation along a major trade and energy route, although the available account does not establish Houthi control of the waterway.
Fighting has spread across Taiz, Hodeidah, Marib, al-Jawf and al-Bayda, Grundberg said, killing civilians and displacing more than 11,400 households since 3 September. Yemen’s internationally recognised government gave a different estimate, saying at least 6,145 families, or about 44,000 people, had been displaced.
Grundberg called on the Houthis to halt attacks and threats against commercial vessels and urged continued efforts to protect civilians and preserve a political settlement. He warned that the consequences of the conflict would extend beyond Yemen’s borders.
Saudi Arabia said Houthi strikes on 8 September wounded 73 civilians. Riyadh and Yemen’s government urged stronger enforcement of UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which includes an arms embargo and sanctions-related measures, and Resolution 2722, which demanded an end to attacks on Red Sea shipping.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said an estimated 18.3 million people face acute food insecurity in Yemen, including more than 2.2 million children under five experiencing acute malnutrition. The figures come as OCHA classifies Yemen as a hunger hotspot of highest concern.
