Air strikes, clashes shake Yemen's UN humanitarian truce

Sana'a

A UN-proposed Yemen humanitarian truce got off to a shaky start Saturday after Saudi-led coalition warplanes struck rebel positions and clashes persisted between insurgents and pro-government fighters.

The six-day ceasefire came into effect just before midnight Friday as aid agencies scrambled to rush desperately needed relief supplies to millions of people threatened by famine. The leader of the Shiite Huthi rebels said he did not expect the truce to hold, while the Saudi-led coalition has not committed to the plan to cease hostilities.

One Saudi official described the measure as "useless," questioning whether the Iran-backed rebel fighters would stick to it. Coalition warplanes raided Huthi positions in the central city of Taez, where clashes between the rebels and fighters loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi continued after the truce.

Violence raged through the night in Taez, with witnesses saying the Huthis had also bombed several districts. Yemen's official news agency, which is run by the exiled government, accused the Huthis and allied troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh of sending reinforcements to the city ahead of the cessation.

In the south, coalition warplanes also hit rebels in the port city of Aden and nearby Lahj province, witnesses said. The raids came after the rebels bombed several neighbourhoods of Aden, according to Abdullah al-Dayani, a spokesman of the southern fighters allied with Hadi.

Warplanes also flew sorties over the capital Sanaa, but there were no attacks after midnight, witnesses said.