A Yemeni official revealed - today, Sunday - that the country's government exchanged with the Houthi group lists of 200 prisoners on both sides, during the consultations held in Switzerland under UN auspices.
In a statement to Anadolu Agency, the government official said - preferring not to be named because he is not authorized to make a statement to the media - that the Swiss consultations have so far witnessed the exchange of a list that includes 100 prisoners belonging to the government, and 100 others belonging to the Houthi group.
He added that the names of both sides are currently being reviewed, without further elaboration.
No official statement has been issued by the Yemeni government or the Houthis on the matter until now.
Yesterday, the UN envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, announced the start of new consultations between the government and the Houthis in Switzerland, to exchange prisoners from both sides.
These consultations are scheduled to last about two weeks, amid hopes that this vital humanitarian issue will be resolved.
And in late March 2022, the Yemeni government signed an agreement with the Houthis under the auspices of the United Nations to exchange more than 2,200 prisoners from both sides, but the process of their release faltered amid mutual accusations of obstructing it.
During consultations in Sweden in 2018, the two parties submitted lists of more than 15,000 prisoners, detainees and abductees, but there is no accurate official count of the numbers after this date.
Yemen is suffering from a war that began after the Houthis took control of the capital, Sana'a, and several provinces at the end of 2014, with the support of the forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was killed in 2017 in confrontations with the group's militants, following the end of the alliance between them.
The conflict has escalated since March 2015, after a Saudi-led military coalition intervened to support the legitimate government forces in confronting the Iranian-backed Houthi group.