Sudan to withdraw all forces from Yemen: PM

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said Friday he will withdraw all forces fighting alongside the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Speaking at U.S.-based think tank Atlantic Council in Washington, Hamdok stressed the conflict in Yemen has no military solution and peace could be achieved only through political means.

He said of the 5,000 Sudanese soldiers who have remained in Yemen, “We will withdraw them as well.”

Hamdok said his government inherited the military involvement from ouster Prime Minister Omar al-Bashir, who was toppled in April after an uprising against his rule.

Sudan has been involved in the Yemeni war as part of the Saudi-led coalition which began in March 2015.

Yemen has been beset by violence and chaos since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital of Sanaa.

The crisis escalated in 2015 when a Saudi-led military coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi territorial gains.

Since then, tens of thousands of Yemenis, including numerous civilians, are believed to have been killed in the conflict, while another 14 million are at risk of starvation, according to the UN.