Yemen Houthis Reveal Saudi-led Coalition Ceasefire Breach

The five-day UN-backed humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen that began midnight Sunday night was disrupted by two Saudi-led airstrikes early Monday morning, CNN reported citing Yemen Defense Ministry sources.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the source, the airstrikes hit Hajjah and Saada provinces. The Hajjah airstrike hit a medical center sheltering Houthi militants — Yemen's main opposition force — killing one person and injuring another seven. The Saada attack did not result in any casualties.

Since 2014, Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war between the Houthis political opposition faction and government forces. Since late March, a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has been launching airstrikes against Houthi positions in Yemen at the request of Yemeni President-in-exile Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

According to United Nations figures, some 3,000 Yemenis have been killed since the conflict escalated four months ago.

The sides have repeatedly initiated humanitarian pauses to allow for delivering aid to the country, but each truce has been violated well before the agreed end.

The current ceasefire was proposed by the Saudi side on Saturday.

On Sunday evening, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all parties involved in the Yemeni conflict to cease hostilities immediately, exercise restraint with isolated violations and come to the negotiating table as quickly as possible.