Yemeni Government Says ‘Largest-Ever’ Prisoner Swap Deal Signed With Houthis

SANAA (Yemen), May 14 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- Yemen’s government said Thursday it signed the “largest” prisoner exchange deal with the Houthi group, involving 1,728 detainees from both sides, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

Yahya Kazman, deputy head of the government negotiating team, said in a post on the US social media company X that the agreement was signed in the Jordanian capital Amman.

“Today, in Amman, the largest deal in the history of the detainees, abductees, and forcibly disappeared file was signed,” Kazman said.

The agreement includes the release of “approximately 1,728 detainees from both parties,” he added.

The deal covers the release of Arab coalition members, personnel from the armed forces and security services, and pro-government fighters, as well as a number of politicians and journalists “who spent long years in Houthi prisons,” according to Kazman.

He expressed “full solidarity” with those still detained, pledging continued efforts alongside their families until all detainees are released “as part of efforts to empty the prisons.”

There was no comment from the Houthis on the agreement as of yet.

Yemen has largely observed a period of reduced violence since April 2022 following a war that began more than 11 years ago between government forces and Houthi fighters, who have controlled several provinces and cities, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.

The war has devastated much of Yemen’s infrastructure and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, amid ongoing UN efforts to advance a peace process in the country.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU