Yemen’s government has announced that it has signed a deal with the country’s Southern Transitional Council (STC) for both sides to withdraw forces from Aden within three weeks, as part of the latest phase of the Riyadh Agreement.

“Today, the Riyadh agreement between the legitimate government and the transitional council is at an advanced stage on the road to a comprehensive implementation of the military aspect of the agreement,” said Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher, an adviser to Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

He added that a deadline of 20 days, beginning from Jan. 11, has been set to implement troop withdrawals on both sides.

In a tweet posted early on Friday, Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Jaber, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Yemen, said: “Phase 2 of (the) Riyadh Agreement includes collecting all medium and heavy weapons from all military and security forces in Aden within 15 days of signing the agreement and transporting them to camps inside Aden, selected and supervised by the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen.”

He said that Hadi will appoint a governor and a security chief for Aden, and added: “This phase is an integral part of completing the previous steps of (the) Riyadh Agreement to achieve security, stability, peace and development. I commend the efforts of President Hadi and the teams of his government and (the) STC for their effective response to implement the pact.”

Presidential adviser Dagher said that the signing of the agreement was sponsored and actively pursued by Hadi, the leadership of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Coalition, and other political and military leaderships. It completed the framework for the withdrawal of forces to prevent any further military action, he added.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the STC signed the Riyadh Agreement on Nov. 5, under the auspices of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who officially announced the deal.