Sanaa - Saudi-led forces accused Yemen's Huthi rebels of violating a ceasefire on Thursday but said they will abide by a five-day humanitarian truce that has allowed aid agencies to deliver relief supplies.
The humanitarian pause that began late Tuesday is the first break in the air war the Saudi-led coalition launched on March 26 in support of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and has strong backing from Washington.
The coalition, in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, said the Iran-backed Shia Huthi rebels had violated the truce 12 times, including with artillery and rocket attacks in several towns in the south.
Officials said rockets fired from the rebel-held north had also hit Saudi border areas on Wednesday and that there had been rebel troop movements in Yemen's south.
Despite the alleged violations, the coalition pledged "its full commitment to the humanitarian truce and restraint".
Residents said calm prevailed across most of the country Thursday except in three cities -- Taez, Daleh and oil-rich Marib -- where there were reports of intermittent exchanges of fire between rebel and pro-Hadi forces.
The alleged violations came despite a promise by the Huthis 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.
The Huthis, allied with army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have taken control of large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa and were advancing on Hadi's southern stronghold of Aden when Riyadh launched the air campaign.
More than 1,500 people have been killed since March in the air campaign and fighting between rebel forces and Hadi loyalists, according to the United Nations.
AFP
