(Karachi) US President Joe Biden has announced an end to United States support for Saudi-led military offensive operations in Yemen, local media reported on Friday. The move indicates that the Biden-led US administration is planning to bring an end to the country’s civil war.

In his first visit to State Department, Biden said that the war has created a humanitarian and strategic catastrophe and this war has to end.

However, he added: “Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV (drone) strikes and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people.”

The US president tapped Tim Lenderking, deputy assistant secretary of State for Iran, Iraq, and regional multilateral affairs, to oversee the U.S. diplomatic mission to end the war in Yemen. “I have asked my Middle East team to ensure our support for the United Nations’ initiative to impose a ceasefire, open humanitarian channels and restore long-dormant peace talks,” Biden said.

He maintained, “Tim’s diplomacy will be bolstered by USAID working to ensure humanitarian aid is reaching the Yemeni people who are suffering an unendurable devastation.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has welcomed Biden’s remarks, particularly his commitment to the country’s defense and addressing threats against it.

The decision to end offensive operations in Yemen is part of changes in US foreign policy and to normalise the situation that has aggravated due to US intervention.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed during the war, which broke out in 2014.

The conflict, which has left millions of Yemenis on the brink of starvation, initially involved the Yemeni government losing ground to an uprising by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia and eight other Arab states — at first with the support of the US, the UK and France — then launched airstrikes against the Houthis to halt their advances.