Sana’a: Yemen’s Shia Houthi rebels rejected a ceasefire declared by the Saudi-led coalition waging an air war against them, according to a message posted on Twitter yesterday.
The truce proposed by the “Saudi aggressor” aims to enable pro-government fighters to regroup, rebel leader Abdulmalik Al Houthi was quoted as saying on a Twitter account believed to be managed by his group.
Mohammed Ali Al Houthi, Head, Supreme Revolutionary Committee said the group would not declare a positive or negative stance towards the ceasefire until the United Nations formally notified them of it.
“The battle goes on and the war is not over,” Al Houthi said, adding it would benefit only militant groups Islamic State and Al Qaeda.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting the Houthi militia since March 26 announced on Saturday a ceasefire to take effect at 11.59pm yesterday for five days to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The Houthi movement accuses its Saudi-supported foes of being in cahoots with Islamist militants like Al Qaeda, which the coalition denies.
Houthi forces also held up 16 trucks carrying humanitarian aid from World Food Programme through Yemen’s Al Hudaydah province to support displaced persons in the major city of Taiz.
Yesterday, Yemeni forces allied with the coalition fought Houthis for control of the country’s largest air base north of Aden, residents said, hours before the truce was to start.
Al Anad base, 50km from the major southern port city, has been held by the Iranian-allied Houthis for much of a fourth-month-old civil war, and is regarded as a strategic asset commanding the approaches to Aden.
Four months of air raids and war have killed more than 3,500 people in the country. Aden has suffered especially, with severe shortages of fuel, food and medicine.
Houthis and army units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh captured Aden at the outset of the war, prompting Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia. The Arab coalition, allied with southern secessionist fighters, retook much of Aden last week. Agencies
