Explained | What are the latest developments in Yemen? Premium

The latest prisoner swap in Yemen and its potential effects for a possible ceasefire between Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed government coalition

The story so far: Hundreds of prisoners captured during the war in Yemen were reunited with their families between April 14 to 16 amid diplomatic efforts to halt the conflict, the Associated Press reported. The main warring sides in Yemen are the Iran-backed Houthis and the pro-Yemen government, Saudi-led coalition.

The two opposing sides had in March agreed to release 887 detainees after a ten-day meeting in Switzerland. The parties also agreed to meet again in May to discuss more such releases, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a press statement.

Flights of the ICRC carried 869 of the released detainees to six cities in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. An additional 104 detainees were released from Saudi Arabia to Yemen on Monday. The large-scale prisoner swap has given the people hope for a permanent ceasefire in Yemen.

The warring parties in control of parts of Yemen had signed the Stockholm Agreement in December 2018 whereby they had committed to freeing conflict-related detainees. The agreement brokered by the United Nations had three main components — the Hudayah agreement, the prisoner exchange agreement, and the Taïz agreement.

The Hudayah agreement included a ceasefire in the city of Hodeidah and other clauses like no military reinforcements in the city and strengthened UN presence. In November 2018, hundreds of people were killed in clashes in Hodeidah, an important port in Yemen, when government loyalists supported by a Saudi-led coalition launched an attack to oust the Iran-backed Houthi rebels from the Red Sea city.

The Taïz agreement includes the formation of a joint committee with participation from civil society and the UN.

The conflict in Yemen began in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring protests. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced to hand over power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi. Mr. Hadi found himself faced with an insurmountable task of tackling Yemen’s economic and security problems. The Houthis, backed by Iran, took advantage of Mr. Hadi’s weak control and captured the Saada province in the north, and then Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, in 2014.