Local Editor
The European Union (EU) on Monday called for extending a fragile 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen after it ended in sporadic attacks.
"It is crucial that all the parties urgently agree on its unconditional extension which would include the commitment to unhindered access for humanitarian supplies and personnel to all parts of Yemen," a spokesperson of the European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a statement.
"We have seen in the past that the breakdown of ceasefires leads only to further killing and suffering for the civilian population, to the advantage of no-one," the spokesperson said.
The bloc "urges all the warring parties to make the necessary compromises and commitments in the interest of alleviating the suffering of the Yemeni people," added the spokesperson.
The 48-hour ceasefire, brokered by the United States, went on effect on Saturday between Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and its allies.
However, Saudi Arabia on Monday announced the end of the truce.
Major-General Ahmed Al Asiri, the spokesperson of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, told a local news channel that there is no chance to extend the ceasefire.
Following the announcement, fighter jets from the coalition allegedly struck a military base in Sana’a on Monday morning.
The EU insisted that "the 48-hour ceasefire ... although fragile due to widespread violations by all sides, was an initial step in the right direction," the spokesperson of EEAS said.
Similar previous truce had collapsed after both sides exchanged fire and traded accusations of breaching the truce.
The war began in March 2015, when Saudi Arabia launched a military air campaign to restore to power fugitive president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The Houthis, backed by forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, ousted Hadi’s regime over widespread corruption allegations.
The Saudi airstrikes and ground battles have since killed over 11,000 Yemenis.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
