ADEN: Yemen’s Houthi group has announced to accept a five-day humanitarian ceasefire proposed by Saudi Arabia.
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia had said two days ago that the ceasefire could begin on Tuesday if the Houthi rebels agreed to the pause, which would allow badly needed food and medical supplies.
Colonel Sharaf Luqman, spokesperson for the Houthi-allied army, said on Sunday Yemeni forces had agreed to the truce but would confront any attacks by Hadi loyalists on battlefronts.
Arab planes bombed for a second day in a row the vast compound in the capital Sanaa which is home to ex-president Saleh, a key player in Yemen’s political crisis whose loyalists in the army fight on the Houthis’ side.
Arab air strikes hit weapons caches at a military base and a presidential palace in the southern city of Aden, the epicentre of fighting for more than six weeks, and southern fighters questioned the proposed pause.
The United Arab Emirates said on yesterday it had dropped 55 tons of food and medical supplies over the city, in the largest such airdrop by a coalition country since the campaign began.
An unspecified number of Malaysian forces had arrive in the kingdom to support the mission in the fight against the Houthi’s, the Saudi official news agency SPA said on Sunday.
The Houthis’ acceptance of a ceasefire came as Saudi ground forces conducted air strikes, fired artillery and launched at least two dozen rockets on Saada province, a Houthi stronghold on Saudi Arabia’s southern border with Yemen.
Riyadh has urged civilians to evacuate the province, a call that has drawn criticism from the United Nations.
Anwar Gargash, minister of state for foreign affairs for the United Arab Emirates, welcomed the Houthis’ acceptance of a ceasefire and said he hoped it would lead to political talks.
Saleh and the Houthis have asked for a U.N.-backed political dialogue, but their opponents say they have yet to make any concessions and have called for them to end their military push on Aden and Yemen’s south.
A Saudi-led coalition has been conducting air strikes against the Houthis and army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 26 with the aim of restoring the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
