The United Nations Mission to Support the Hudaydah Agreement (UNMHA) on Sunday urged Yemen’s belligerent rivals to calm the situation and avoid harming civilians and their property, Anadolu reports.

“UNMHA calls on the parties to defuse the situation and take all measures to prevent accidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian property,” the UN mission said in a statement on Twitter.

In recent weeks, parts of southern Hudaydah province have been the scene of heavy fighting between Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their areas.

The UN estimates that more than 25,000 Yemenis were displaced in Hudaydah last month.

“Women and children continue to bear the brunt of the hostilities between warring parties in the southern districts of Hudaydah,” UNMHA said.

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On December 13, 2018, Yemeni government officials and Houthi rebel leaders held UN-sponsored talks in the Swedish capital Stockholm, which resulted in a ceasefire agreement and the exchange of prisoners in Hudaydah.

Yemen has been plagued by violence and instability since 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sana’a.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reestablishing the Yemeni government has made matters worse, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with nearly 80% or around 30 million in need of aid and relief. humanitarian protection, and more than 13 million at risk of death from starvation, according to UN estimates.

A recent United Nations report predicted that by the end of the year, the death toll from the seven-year Yemeni conflict will reach 377,000.