Mattis, Pompeo call for Yemen ceasefire within 30 days

James Mattis.
(Image credit: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

Within 30 days, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis want everyone involved in the Yemen civil war to agree to a ceasefire.

The war has left thousands dead and caused immense suffering, bringing a shortage of food, medication, and clean water in many areas. During an event Tuesday at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, Mattis said that everyone involved in the war — including the Saudi-led coalition, which supports the Yemeni government, and the Iranian-backed Houthis — must meet to "end this war." The U.S. has provided the coalition with some training and aerial refueling of warplanes. Mattis said the most important thing to do is "move toward a peace effort here, and you can't say we're going to do it sometime in the future."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.