Washington: US defence secretary James Mattis, has called for ceasefire in Yemen while attending an event on Tuesday.

“We have go to move toward a peace effort here, and we can’t say we are going to do it some time in the future,” Mattis said while speaking at the United States Institute of Peace. “We need to be doing this in the next 30 days”, Sputnik International reported.

Yemen’s population is suffering under the worst humanitarian crisis on earth, according to the United Nations. The Saudi-led coalition has been supplied with fresh munitions and mid-air fuel supplies by US and western backers. Houthi rebels have been fighting against the government in Yemen supported by Saudi Arabia.

The UN says more than 7,600 people mostly civilians have been killed and close to 42,000 others injured.

The fighting and a partial blockade by the coalition has also left 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid, created the world’s largest food security emergency, and led to a cholera outbreak that is thought to have affected 1.1 million people.