With cargo ships poised to launch a desperately needed aid operation in embattled Yemen, a five- day humanitarian cease-fire has begun just hours after Saudi- led coalition warplanes struck against Shiite rebels and their allies.
There were reports of continued ground fighting in some areas yesterday, with security officials and witnesses saying fierce combat broke out about a half hour after the cease-fire began when rebels tried to storm the southern city of Dhale, firing tank shells, rockets and mortars. But no airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition battling the rebels were reported.
The officials and tribal leaders also accused the rebels and their allies of reinforcing their positions.
The truce will test the adversaries' desire to enter into peace talks to try to end the fighting that has killed hundreds of civilians since March. Both sides say they are ready to respond with violence if their opponent breaks the cease-fire.
Earlier yesterday, Iran said it was sending warships to protect an Iranian aid ship steaming toward a Yemeni port held by the rebel fighters, the Iranian state news agency said. The navy escort was denounced by the Pentagon and Saudi Arabia as unnecessary, and raised the possibility of a confrontation near the strategic Bab el-Mandab strait in the Gulf of Aden.
The Saudi-led strikes in Yemen came to a halt shortly before the new UN envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, flew into the capital, Sanaa, on his first official visit to the country. He told reporters he planned to meet with the warring parties, including the rebels known as Houthis, and ensure that the cease-fire holds.
"We will discuss the humanitarian truce and the Yemeni parties' return to the negotiating table," he said.
The cease-fire is meant to help ease the suffering of civilians in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country. Before the cease-fire began, security officials said airstrikes overnight, at dawn and during the morning hours yesterday hit weapons depots and other military facilities north and south of Sanaa, a sprawling city of some 4 million people. The military air base that is part of the capital's international airport also was targeted.
Ten strikes hit Sanaa from dawn until about noon, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to journalists.