Houthis Extend Yemen Peace Talks By 1 Week - Source

KUWAIT CITY (Sputnik) — Yemen's Houthi rebels and the General People's Congress (GPC) of the country’s ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh have decided to extend peace talks with the country's Aden-based government headed by Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi by another week, a source present at the talks told Sputnik.

"This was agreed on as a result of intense diplomatic efforts," the source said on Saturday.

Earlier, the Houthis and the GPC formed a joint supreme political council and ended talks with Hadi government representatives.

Since 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in a military conflict between forces loyal to Hadi and the Houthis, also known as the Ansar Allah movement, which is the country’s main opposition force.

Since March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request despite a ceasefire agreed in April.

UN-brokered talks to end the Yemeni conflict started in Kuwait on April 21. On July 20, the Kuwaiti government gave the warring sides 15 days to settle the crisis before it would stop hosting the talks.