Sanaa--Aid agencies began delivering help to desperate civilians in Yemen as a five-day ceasefire took hold after nearly seven weeks of Saudi-led air strikes against Iran-backed rebels.
The Saudi-led coalition Thursday alleged that Huthi militias had violated the truce 12 times, including with artillery and rocket fire in several towns in the south, in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
But it said the coalition "confirms its full commitment to the humanitarian truce and restraint".
The humanitarian pause -- which began at 11:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Tuesday -- is the first break in the air war in support of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since its launch on March 26 and has strong backing from Washington.
The coalition accused the rebels and their allies of truce violations, including rocket and tank fire, and troop movements in the south of the country.
On Wednesday the Saudi defence ministry had already said rockets fired from the rebel-held north of Yemen had hit the border areas of Jazan and Najran inside the kingdom but Saudi forces had "practised self-restraint as part of their commitment" to the truce.
The alleged violations came despite a promise by the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies to abide by the ceasefire. Riyadh has warned it will punish any attempt to exploit the truce.
A US State Department spokesman said that while the truce was "broadly" holding, it had received some reports of clashes after the ceasefire began.
"We urge all parties to continue to... honour the commitment to restraint," spokesman Jeff Rathke said.
AFP
