‘Yemen truce will not be renewed’
Says spokesman of Saudi-led coalition on al-Arabiya TV
Sanaa (Yemen), Nov. 21: A two-day ceasefire after nearly two years of war in Yemen expired at midday Monday and would not be renewed, a spokesman for a Saudi-led military coalition told al-Arabiya TV, with each side blaming the other for violations.
The 48-hour truce, announced unilaterally by the Saudi coalition on Friday, failed to halt fighting across the country between the Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi-led forces, which intervened on the side of the exiled government in March 2015.
Yemeni government forces and rebels were engaged in fierce fighting as a 48-hour ceasefire declared by the pro-government Arab coalition approached its end Monday, military officials said.
Fifteen rebels and nine loyalist troops were killed in clashes overnight in and around the flashpoint southwestern city of Taez, military and medical sources said.
Four civilians were killed and 11 others wounded in rebel bombing of loyalist held neighbourhoods, the sources said.
On Monday, forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi attacked Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies on the western outskirts of Taez, military officials said. The offensive, coming hours before the midday scheduled end of the ceasefire, targeted an air defence base, the officials said, while witnesses reported loud explosions.
Four of the Huthi casualties were killed in an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition.
The 20-month conflict has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced more than three million.
Residents in the capital Sanaa said that Saudi-led coalition jets had bombed army bases on a mountain overlooking the city earlier on Monday, and the force of the explosions had shaken buildings in several city neighbourhoods. Sanaa is controlled by the Houthis, who still hold vast swathes of Yemen despite the Saudi-led military campaign gaining territory and not succeeding in restoring President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.
Visiting neighbouring Oman last Tuesday, US secretary of state John Kerry said both sides had agreed to a deal whereby the Houthis would quit Yemen’s major cities and the factions would form a national unity government.