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UN to Convene Yemen Peace Talks in Geneva


Bodies of people killed by an airstrike on a fish market are laid out in plastic bags at a hospital in Hodeida, Yemen, Aug. 2, 2018.
Bodies of people killed by an airstrike on a fish market are laid out in plastic bags at a hospital in Hodeida, Yemen, Aug. 2, 2018.

The United Nations special envoy to Yemen is planning to invite the warring parties to Geneva next month to discuss a framework for peace talks.

Martin Griffiths told the Security Council that "a political solution" to end the war in Yemen was "available," and urged world powers to support the new push for peace negotiations.

Griffiths said the Sept. 6 talks "will provide the opportunity for the parties, among other things, to discuss the framework for negotiations, relevant confidence-building measures and specific plans for moving the process forward."

His announcement came just hours after the Saudi-led coalition conducted airstrikes Thursday in the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, killing at least 28 people and wounding at least 70.

The airstrikes took place close to the city's main public hospital situated near a popular fish market, Yemeni medical officials said.

The last attempt at peace talks for Yemen broke down in 2016.

A proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran has been raging in Yemen since 2015, when a Saudi-led military coalition intervened to restore the internationally recognized government and push back the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The war has claimed more than 10,000 lives and left millions of people on the brink of starvation.

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