Mattis calls for ceasefire between Houthi and Saudi-led forces in Yemen

United States Defence Secretary James Mattis on Tuesday called for a ceasefire in Yemen as the nation is engulfed in a war between Houthi rebels and the Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces.

"We have to move toward a peace effort here, and we can't say we are going to do it sometime in the future. We need to be doing this in the next 30 days," Sputnik quoted Mattis as saying during an event at the United States Institute of Peace.

The war between Houthi and the Yemen government started in September 2014, as the Houthi assaulted the capital city of Sanaa and controlled it along with of other northern cities, including the port city of Hodeidah, after they advanced from the northern stronghold of Saada.

This provoked military action from Saudi Arabia, who led the coalition and launched an aerial assault on the country in March 2015 to restore exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's government.

Mattis further stated that all parties involved must gather at a negotiation table, observe a ceasefire and halt the airstrikes being carried out in the country, Sputnik cited a Washington Post reporter as saying.

"We want to see everybody around a peace table based on a ceasefire, based on a pullback from the border and then based on ceasing dropping of bombs. This has got to end, we have to replace combat with compromise. It's time to stop this," Mattis said.

He also pinned the blame for the conflict on Iran, saying, it is them "who keeps fueling this conflict, and they have to knock it off."

On Tuesday, an airstrike conducted by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces led to the death of at least 150 Houthi rebels in Yemen's coastal city of Hodeidah. The coalition army also deployed 10, 000 additional troops, including forces from Sudan, to secure Hodeidah, Al Jazeera reported.