Sanaa hands over a number of bodies to Marib, amid positive indicators from Muscat negotiations

Yemen

Yamanat – Sanaa

Press sources reported on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, that Sanaa authorities handed over a number of bodies to the other side in Mareb governorate, northeastern Yemen.

The sources reported statements by the local ombudsman, Abu Amir Al-Musabi, in which he confirmed that the Sanaa authorities handed over 20 bodies to the Marib authorities, indicating that the mediators received the bodies with a view to handing them over to the Marib city authorities.

On December 6, authorities in Marib handed over 26 bodies to authorities in Sanaa, as part of an agreement led by a local mediation committee.

Al-Musabi said that the handover of the bodies by the Sanaa authorities is a direct response to the humanitarian initiative of the Marib authorities, and goes through the same mediation.

He stressed that the exchange of bodies between the two parties is part of a humanitarian approach which aims to separate the issue of bodies from any other controversial issue, and to treat it as a common moral and humanitarian commitment.

He stressed that this progress is the result of continuous efforts that lasted almost two years, during which mediation sought to convince the different parties of the importance of neutralizing the humanitarian problems of the conflict, so as to guarantee the preservation of human dignity and alleviate the suffering of the victims’ families.

The body swap process coincides with negotiations taking place under the auspices of the UN in Muscat between the two parties to the conflict, with the aim of reaching an agreement to exchange prisoners under the rule of “all for all”.

News from Muscat indicates that negotiations are progressing positively and a swap deal is expected to be reached in the coming days.

Yemen