The five-day ceasefire aims to allow deliveries of desperately needed relief supplies, although aid groups have already warned they need more time

AFP
Riyadh/Sanaa


A ceasefire after weeks of Saudi-led coalition bombing in Yemen began last night, but the coalition warned Iran-backed rebels that it would strike back at any violation.
“Absolutely. 11 O’clock”, coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri said when asked whether the ceasefire had begun on schedule at 11pm local time.
“We are committed to respect this,” he said, but the coalition will continue its “intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance” in case it has to respond.
“We will be ready to react to any violation of the pause,” he told AFP. “We are very clear. If they do not respect... we will continue.”
The five-day ceasefire aims to allow deliveries of desperately needed relief supplies, although aid groups have already warned they need more time.
Explosions at an arms depot in the capital hit by Saudi-led coalition strikes since Monday killed at least 69 people and wounded 250, mostly civilians, an official said.
The blasts at Mount Noqum, on the eastern outskirts of the rebel-held capital, lasted until midday yesterday, when a fresh wave of strikes hit the depot.
Unesco director general Irina Bokova condemned “severe damage” caused to heritage sites in Yemen, such as Sanaa’s old city, during intense bombing.
She called on “all parties to keep cultural heritage out of the conflict”.
Quiet returned to Sanaa as the newly appointed UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, arrived for talks with the Shia Houthi rebels, ahead of other meetings this week, possibly in Iran.
“We are not ready to announce a date for talks but that remains the goal,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that “the fact that he got into Sanaa and is meeting with the Houthis today is a sign in the right direction.”
The Houthis have promised to respond “positively” to the truce, and allied troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh have accepted the ceasefire.
The truce is the first since the Riyadh-led alliance launched the air war aimed at restoring the crumbling authority of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
The ceasefire has strong backing from Washington, which has said it could be extended.
But doubts have been cast on the initiative.
“There might be a ceasefire but it won’t end the conflict,” said a Western diplomatic source. “I’d be surprised if it was honoured across Yemen. There will still be skirmishes going on.”
The Houthis, who hail from Yemen’s mountainous north near the border with Saudi Arabia, overran Sanaa in September and extended their control to other regions.
Hadi fled to Riyadh as the rebels closed in on his refuge in the main southern city of Aden, where clashes between his opponents and supporters have shown no sign of relenting.
Clashes raged in the southern provinces of Abyan, Shabwa and Daleh, as well as Jawf farther north, residents said.
Bloody clashes were also reported in the central province of Baida, as well as coalition air strikes on a Houthi-held camp in Marib province, east of Sanaa.
Air raids rocked the Houthi stronghold province of Saada late yesterday, according to witnesses.
The Red Cross said a longer ceasefire was needed.
“We hope the truce would last longer, and become permanent. And we hope all sides respect it,” spokesman Adnan Hizam said, lamenting a “catastrophic” humanitarian situation.
Human Rights Watch warned the Houthis had intensified recruitment of children in violation of international law.
Commanders of the rebels and other groups “should stop using children or risk prosecution for war crimes”, HRW said.