Al Mukalla: A UN-brokered ceasefire was taking hold in Yemen on Monday despite sporadic clashes, raising hopes that peace talks due next week may finally resolve the country’s devastating conflict.

Forces loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the Al Houthi rebels who drove his government out of the capital, and the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen last year all pledged to honour the truce after it took effect at midnight on Sunday.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, called the ceasefire “a first step in Yemen’s return to peace”.

“This is critical, urgent and much needed. Yemen cannot afford the loss of more lives,” the Mauritanian diplomat said.

General Mohammad Ali Al Makdashi, the chief of staff for Hadi’s forces, said early Monday the ceasefire was largely holding despite some violations by rebels.

“The truce has not collapsed and we hope the rebels end their attacks and respect the ceasefire,” he said, alleging breaches in several areas including the cities of Taez in southwestern Yemen and Marib east of Sana’a.

Several Yemeni government forces were killed and dozens were injured in fierce clashes with Al Houthis and their allied military forces in many provinces. Forces loyal to Hadi said that they repelled many attempts by Al Houthis to exploit the lull in the fighting to take control of new areas.

Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmad Assiri earlier described the violations as “minor”.

“It is the first day and we should be patient,” the top Saudi officer said. “Day by day, it will be better.”

Prime Minister Ahmad Bin Dagher also played down violations, saying that the truce “seems good”, adding after meeting the UN envoy in Riyadh that “we want a durable peace”.

“Now is the time to step back from the brink,” the UN’s Ould Shaikh Ahmad said.

“The progress made represents a real opportunity to rebuild a country that has suffered far too much violence for far too long.”

The highest number of deaths among government forces was in the province where Al Houthis assaulted loyalists’ positions in Helan region, Serwah district. Ali Al Ghoules, a spokesperson for the governor of Marib, told Gulf News on Monday that three pro-government fighters were killed and four were injured in Al Houthi attacks on government forces since Sunday midnight.

“The national army soldiers and resistance fighters fought off four attacks by Al Houthis.” Al Ghoules said that air defence systems of the Saudi-led coalition intercepted a ballistic missile over the sky of Marib fired by Al Houthis almost half an hour after the official start of the ceasefire.

In the southern province of Shawba, Nasser Rakan, a tribal leader loyal to the government, told Gulf News that one of his fighters went missing and two were injured when Al Houthis attacked their sites in Al Safar region.

However, the heaviest shelling by Al Houthis on Monday morning was in the besieged Taiz where rebels bombed resistance fighters positions and residential areas. Zakaria Al Shara’abi, a pro-government journalist who logs down Al Houthis attacks in the city, said that two resistance fighters and two civilians were killed and many were injured in indiscriminate shelling by Al Houthis on many districts.

“Al Houthis intensified their assault on resistance positions in the early hours of the ceasefire. The coalition’s warplanes intervened to silence their machine guns,” he said.

Al Shara’abi said that the jets struck Al Houthis when resistance could not push them back on their own. A ceasefire agreed by warning factions in Yemen was arranged to take effect on Sunday midnight ahead of the third round of peace talks that aimed at putting an end to a year-long conflict. The government, Al Houthis and the ousted president loyalists vowed to honour the new ceasefire. On Sunday night, Yemeni foreign minister Abdul Malek Al Mikhlafi said that Hadi ordered his forces to halt fighting.

Previous efforts to stop the fighting in Yemen — which has left thousands dead and forced more than two million people from their homes — have collapsed amid mutual recriminations.

- With inputs from AFP