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SANAA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Fighting in Yemen has intensified as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with delegations of warring parties in Kuwait, urging them to end the war and reach a consensus.
Despite a truce reached in April, fighting between the warring parties, the Saudi-backed government troops and Iran-allied Shiite Houthis backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has escalated recently.
Official media of both sides have reported intense battles since Friday in the northeastern province of al-Jawf, in the central province of Marib, in Nehim on the northeastern outskirts of Sanaa, and in Kataba between the southwestern provinces of Lahj and Taiz, with about 50 fighters killed.
The Saudi-led military coalition launched airstrikes against the Houthi militias in Yemen in March 2015 to restore the exiled president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Residents in Khawlan, a district to the southeast of the capital Sanaa, said the airstrikes here on Sunday killed five people and destroyed some homes.
They did not say if the killed involved Houthi militias.
The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported damage to residents' houses and properties, but said nothing about casualties.
In Kataba, residents said an airstrike on Sunday killed two people when the Saudi-led warplanes bombarded Houthi targets to prevent them from capturing the government-controlled al-Anad Air Base in the southwestern province of Lahj.
In Kuwait, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with representatives from the warring parties on Sunday, urging an end to the war and a consensus between them.
The war has killed over 6,000 people, half of them civilians, and displaced more than 2 million others, according to UN humanitarian agencies.
"I urge the delegations to prevent further deterioration of the situation and to arrive at a comprehensive agreement," Ban said in a statement following his meeting with the Yemeni rival delegations.
"The conflict must end and Yemen must return to the transitional process and implement the outcomes of the National Dialogue," Ban said in the statement, which was released through the Twitter account of his envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who brokered the talks in Kuwait.
Ban also called on the rival negotiators to release all prisoners including political detainees, journalists and civil society activists ahead of Eid holidays, which will come in 10 days and mark the end of this year's Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
In their meeting with Ban, the Houthis demanded that a new unity government with an elected president be installed before their withdrawal from the capital Sanaa and other cities, according to a statement released by Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam, who heads Houthi delegation in Kuwait.
Abdul Salam said the government delegation wants them to surrender, accusing it of obstructing the peace course.
Abdul Malik al-Mikhlafi, head of the government's delegation, said his team insisted on implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2216 before going to any political process.
The resolution, which was issued last year, stated that the Houthi fighters must withdraw from occupied Yemeni cities and lay down their arms before forming a unity government.
The Houthi armed group stormed Sanaa and other major cities in September 2014, forcing President Hadi and his government into exile.
The Houthi fighters have since controlled nearly half of the country, including government institutions and the state central bank.
