Sana’a: A UN-proposed Yemen humanitarian truce got off to a shaky start Saturday after Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck Al Houthi militant positions and clashes persisted between insurgents and pro-government fighters.
The six-day ceasefire took effect just before midnight Friday as agencies scrambled to rush desperately needed relief supplies to millions threatened by famine.
The Saudi-led coalition has not committed to the ceasefire, and the leader of the Iran-backed Al Houthi militants said he did not expect it to hold.
The “command of the coalition forces did not yet receive any request from the legitimate Yemeni government asking for a truce or cessation of military operations,” it said.
Coalition spokesman Brigadier-General Ahmad Al Assiri said the bloc was “not concerned with this truce because it does not provide a commitment from Al Houthi militants”.
The alliance’s leadership had not met UN representatives to coordinate a truce, he told Asharq Al Awsat daily.
Coalition warplanes raided Al Houthi positions in the central city of Taiz, where clashes between the Al Houthi militants and fighters loyal to exiled President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi continued after the truce.
Violence raged overnight in Taiz, with witnesses saying the Al Houthis had also bombed several districts.
Yemen’s official news agency, which is run by the exiled government, accused Al Houthis and allied troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh of sending reinforcements to the city ahead of the cessation.
In the south, coalition warplanes also hit Al Houthi militants in the port city of Aden and nearby Lahj province, witnesses said.
The raids came after the Al Houthi militants bombed Aden, according to Abdullah Al Dayani, a spokesman of the southern fighters allied with Hadi.
Warplanes also flew sorties over Sana’a, but there were no attacks after midnight, witnesses said.
The six-day pause was declared after UN chief Ban Ki-moon received assurances from Hadi and Al Houthis that it would be respected.
“We do not have much hope for the truce to succeed,” said the Al Houthi chief Abdul Malik Al Houthi on television ahead of the truce deadline.
“The success of the truce depends on the commitment of the Saudi regime and is conditioned to a complete end to the aggression.”
