SANAA — (CNN) Warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a ceasefire of roughly a week to let in humanitarian aid.
Violence has taken at least 3,000 lives there since the conflict erupted in March, according to the United Nations.
Fighting has forced at least one million residents from their homes, and at least 21 million people are in need of immediate humanitarian aid.
The ceasefire is set to begin at 11:59 p.m. local time on Friday and ends with the close of the holy month of Ramadan in about week.
Humanitarian agencies plan to enter the country by land, sea and air to bring in food, water and medicine, including vaccines.
“It is imperative and urgent that humanitarian aid can reach all vulnerable people of Yemen unimpeded and through an unconditional humanitarian pause,” the U.N. said in a statement.
The office of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said it has received assurances from both sides and from other warring parties that they will not break the ceasefire.
The U.N. had initiated the pause in hostilities. Yemen’s deposed President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, who fled the country after rival Houthi rebels went on the offensive, accepted the invitation in a letter to Ban.
The Houthis have also agreed to the ceasefire, they said in a statement to CNN.
“We hope this ceasefire brings a complete end to the Saudi aggression on Yemen. The international community must also push that the ceasefire comes along with lifting the air, water and land blockade on Yemen,” said Mohammed Al Houthis, president of the Houthi Revolution Council.
Hadi is backed by Saudi Arabia, which has led a coalition of regional powers in strikes against Houthi rebels, and other groups.
The coalition has set up blockades to hinder the influx of weapons and ammunition.
The Houthis, who are a Shiite minority, are backed by Iran, Saudi Arabia’s staunch rival on the Persian Gulf.
Many analysts see the conflict, at least in part, as a proxy war between the two.
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