Yemeni government negotiators said they were leaving peace talks in Kuwait on Monday after Houthi militia foes rejected a United Nations proposal aimed to ending their country&#39;s war. 
 
Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi insisted the government was not abandoning the peace process, but suggested it would only return if the Houthis and a powerful local ally lifted their objections to the UN plan. 
 
&quot;We&#39;ve agreed to the initiative ... we are now leaving the territory of the brotherly state of Kuwait but we&#39;re not leaving the talks,&quot; Mekhlafi said while announcing the move. 
 
&quot;We&#39;ll return at any moment, even an hour after our departure, if the other side agrees to sign this document which the (U.N.) envoy presented.&quot; 
 
UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed proposed that the government&#39;s foes in the armed Houthi movement quit three main cities they hold, including the capital Sanaa. Under this plan, new talks would then be convened on forming a government that would include the Houthis, delegates said. 
 
The envoy said in a statement the talks would continue. &quot;The departure of the Government of Yemen delegation from Kuwait is not a departure from the Peace Talks,&quot; Ould Cheikh Ahmed said. 
 
&quot;We agreed with the parties to keep the talks ongoing until we agree on next steps in the coming days which shall be dedicated to intensive meetings&quot; with the government&#39;s foes as well as international diplomats, he said. 
 
The Houthis dismissed the UN proposal as a non-starter on Sunday, saying in a statement that any agreement would need to be comprehensive and not postpone a resolution on major issues. 
 
They said they would stay in Kuwait for the talks. 
 
The negotiations started in April have slowed the nationwide fighting that has killed at least 6,400 people and caused one of the world&#39;s worst humanitarian crises. 
 
(Reuters)

The United Nations proposed that government's foes in the armed Houthi movement quit three main cities they hold, including capital Sanaa

Yemeni government negotiators said they were leaving peace talks in Kuwait on Monday after Houthi militia foes rejected a United Nations proposal aimed to ending their country's war. Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi insisted the government was not abandoning the peace process, but suggested it would only return if the Houthis and a powerful local ally lifted their objections to the UN plan. "We've agreed to the initiative ... we are now leaving the territory of the brotherly state of Kuwait but we're not leaving the talks," Mekhlafi said while announcing the move. "We'll return at any moment, even an hour after our departure, if the other side agrees to sign this document which the (U.N.) envoy presented." UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed proposed that the government's foes in the armed Houthi movement quit three main cities they hold, including the capital Sanaa. Under this plan, new talks would then be convened on forming a government that would include the Houthis, delegates said. The envoy said in a statement the talks would continue. "The departure of the Government of Yemen delegation from Kuwait is not a departure from the Peace Talks," Ould Cheikh Ahmed said. "We agreed with the parties to keep the talks ongoing until we agree on next steps in the coming days which shall be dedicated to intensive meetings" with the government's foes as well as international diplomats, he said. The Houthis dismissed the UN proposal as a non-starter on Sunday, saying in a statement that any agreement would need to be comprehensive and not postpone a resolution on major issues. They said they would stay in Kuwait for the talks. The negotiations started in April have slowed the nationwide fighting that has killed at least 6,400 people and caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. (Reuters)

Yemen government leaves Kuwait talks after Houthis reject UN plan

&nbsp;Fourteen government soldiers were killed on Sunday in a push to retake a southern Yemeni city from the Iran-allied Houthi group in one of the deadliest days since a shaky ceasefire tentatively took hold last month, military officials said.

Yemen&#39;s exiled government has been fighting a war backed by Saudi-led air strikes and ground forces to win back the capital of Sanaa from the Houthis, whom it views as a proxy of Tehran.

Backed up by local tribes and militias, army forces attacked the city of Beihan in southeastern Shabwa province which sits on a main road leading to Sanaa some 100 km (62 miles) away.

Military and local officials said several fighters on the Houthi side were killed and injured in the battle adding that government forces were advancing deeper into the town.

The Shi&#39;ite Muslim Houthis, who took power in late 2014, deny they are puppets of Iran and say their armed fight is a revolution against corruption officials.

Home to Yemen&#39;s largest industrial project, a now-shut liquefied natural gas export facility at Belhaf, Shabwa is divided among Al-Qaeda, government troops loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Houthi forces and armed tribes.

Clashes have repeatedly broken out there between Houthi and pro-Hadi forces despite a ceasefire which began on April 10, which has mostly stopped fighting and buttressed weeks of inconclusive U.N.-backed peace talks in Kuwait.

Clashes between the Houthi group--the Shi'ite rebels-- and pro-Hadi forces broke out in an attempt to retake the southern Yemeni city from the former.

Fourteen government soldiers were killed on Sunday in a push to retake a southern Yemeni city from the Iran-allied Houthi group in one of the deadliest days since a shaky ceasefire tentatively took hold last month, military officials said. Yemen's exiled government has been fighting a war backed by Saudi-led air strikes and ground forces to win back the capital of Sanaa from the Houthis, whom it views as a proxy of Tehran. Backed up by local tribes and militias, army forces attacked the city of Beihan in southeastern Shabwa province which sits on a main road leading to Sanaa some 100 km (62 miles) away. Military and local officials said several fighters on the Houthi side were killed and injured in the battle adding that government forces were advancing deeper into the town. The Shi'ite Muslim Houthis, who took power in late 2014, deny they are puppets of Iran and say their armed fight is a revolution against corruption officials. Home to Yemen's largest industrial project, a now-shut liquefied natural gas export facility at Belhaf, Shabwa is divided among Al-Qaeda, government troops loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Houthi forces and armed tribes. Clashes have repeatedly broken out there between Houthi and pro-Hadi forces despite a ceasefire which began on April 10, which has mostly stopped fighting and buttressed weeks of inconclusive U.N.-backed peace talks in Kuwait.

Fourteen soldiers killed in Southern Yemen clashes

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