Arab coalition resumes Yemen air strikes

The Punch - Nigeria

Arab coalition nations have resumed air strikes against Houthi fighters in Yemen as a UN envoy called for an extension of a five-day humanitarian ceasefire that expired late Sunday.

The coalition targeted Houthi rebel positions in Al-Sawlaban and Al-Arish in Aden province, Saudi military officials said early on Monday.

Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-backed channel, reported that Saudi troops were also shelling Al-Manzala district in Al-Dalih near the Yemen-Saudi border, in addition to Al-Ghawr mountain.

“I call on all parties to renew their commitment to this truce for five more days at least,” UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said earlier in Riyadh. “This humanitarian truce should turn into a permanent ceasefire.”

His appeal followed clashes between rebels and pro-government forces across south Yemen on Saturday despite the truce, which has largely held since starting on Tuesday at 2000 GMT.

Speaking in Seoul on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US continues to support the idea of a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen, but that such a truce was difficult given the current circumstances.

The official Saudi Press Agency, meanwhile, reported that the UN envoy met Saudi chief of staff Lieutenant General Abdulrahman bin Saleh al-Bunyan and discussed “humanitarian aid efforts” in Yemen.

Aid groups have called for a lasting truce in the impoverished country, where a Saudi-led regional coalition has waged an air war Houthis and their allies since late March.