AFP, SANAA: Saudi-led warplanes bombarded Yemeni rebels at dawn yesterday, witnesses said, in a new blow to a UN-proposed truce in the impoverished country where millions are threatened with famine.
Air strikes hit the Shiite Huthi stronghold of Saada in Yemen’s north, as well as other rebel positions south of the capital Sanaa and in the southern province of Lahj, residents said.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
The UN-proposed humanitarian truce technically went into effect at 2059 GMT Friday and is
supposed to run until July 17, the last day of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. But the ceasefire, much needed to rush food supplies to a population threatened by famine, has been flouted by strikes conducted by the Saudi-led coalition and fighting on the ground.
The ceasefire was declared after UN chief Ban Ki-moon received assurances from exiled Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and the Huthis that it would be respected.
The coalition said it has not received a formal request from Hadi’s government to observe a truce, while the rebels said before the ceasefire went into effect they had little hope it would succeed.