Local Editor
Saudi Arabia’s warplanes have conducted fresh airstrikes against Yemen, violating a 48-hour ceasefire which the kingdom announced earlier.
Yemen’s al-Masirah television said Saudi jets bombarded a district in the southwestern province of Taiz several times.
Similar attacks were carried out in the Salif district of Hudaydah Province, the Maran neighborhood of Saada Province, and the Bani Hushaysh district of Sana’a Province, the report said.
Yemen’s army forces also foiled an attempt by Saudi mercenaries to advance in the Baqa border region and killed dozens of them, it added.
The attacks came shortly after Saudi Arabia said it had decided to begin a 48-hour ceasefire from 12:00 noon in Yemen’s timing (0900 GMT) on Saturday.
The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said the naval and air "blockade", however, would remain in place and surveillance jets would continue to fly over Yemen.
Riyadh claims that the announcement followed a request for a ceasefire by Yemen’s fugitive president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to Saudi King Salman.
Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman, a spokesman for Yemeni forces, confirmed that they would abide by the ceasefire if the other side observes it.
"Based on the agreement reached in Muscat [on Monday], we affirm our commitment to the ceasefire if the other party respects it," Luqman said.
Saudi military spokesman Ahmed Asiri acknowledged in February that the kingdom was stuck in a "static war" against its southern neighbor.
While the war has proven big business for the US and the UK, it has taken a massive toll on the Saudi kingdom’s economy.
The US military provides aerial refueling to Saudi bombers conducting airstrikes on Yemen. Washington has also been providing logistic and surveillance support to the kingdom in the bloody campaign.
Meanwhile, the British government has been training Saudi pilots. London is also one of the biggest arms suppliers to Riyadh, including cluster bombs which have been used in Yemen.
The war has killed at least 11,400 civilians, according to a recent tally by a Yemeni monitoring group.
In October, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said Saudi Arabia was using starvation as a tactic in its war against Yemen through its crippling blockade that the US helps to implement.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
