Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it was hosting a delegation of Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels for talks on ending the impoverished country's brutal war.
Senior Huthi figures took off from Yemen's capital Sanaa, multiple sources said, for their first public visit to oil-rich Saudi since Riyadh began spearheading a military intervention in the neighbouring country in 2015.
Yemen was plunged into conflict when the Huthis overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to launch their offensive the following March.
The ensuing fighting has left hundreds of thousands dead and forced millions from their homes, causing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in a country already pummelled by decades of conflict and upheaval.
