Saudi-led coalition begins 48-hour truce in Yemen

Sputnik
Sat, 19 Nov 2016 19:38 UTC

© REUTERS/ Anees Mahyoub

The Saudi-led international coalition will start a 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen on Saturday, media report.

The truce will begin at noon (09:00 GMT) on Saturday, the Al Arabiya broadcaster said.

Earlier this week, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi said that the ceasefire announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday and agreed between the Yemeni Houthi rebels and an international coalition led by Saudi Arabia is invalid, as it was reached without the Yemeni government's participation.

Comment: See also:

• Sudden urgency? US and UK call for unconditional truce in Yemen ASAP
• No peace for Yemen: Saudi-led coalition resumes airstrikes despite UN call to extend truce

Update: A Saudi border guard was killed by shelling at the Saudi - Yemen border shortly before a ceasefire entered into force.

"Private at Facilities Security Forces, Adel Bahlol Khardli, was exposed to fire from an unknown source, resulting in the martyrdom of him," the Interior Ministry's security spokesman said in statement, as quoted by Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Since March 2015, the Saudi-led coalition of mostly Persian Gulf countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request.

Both sides to the Yemeni conflict have violated the ceasefire in the first hour after it went into force, local media reported.

According to the Sky News Arabia television channel, the Houthi rebels shelled residential areas in the city of Taiz less than an hour after the ceasefire took force.

The Almayadeen television channel in turn reported that the coalition did not stop bombing rebel positions. According to the channel, the northern Harad region not far from the border with Saudi Arabia was hit by three airstrikes after 12:00 GMT.

There have been no statements on the issue from either side so far.