Sanaa (AFP) – The Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen on Monday blamed ceasefire violations by Iran-backed rebels for the resumption of air strikes after a five-day truce aimed at delivering desperately needed aid.
The humanitarian ceasefire ended at 2000 GMT Sunday despite calls from UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed and relief agencies for an extension.
Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri accused the rebels of not respecting the Saudi-proposed truce.
“That’s why we do what is necessary to be done,” he told AFP.
An hour after the ceasefire expired, air raids hit the rebel-held presidential palace in the main southern city Aden as well as a base of the pro-rebel Special Forces there, military officials and witnesses said.
The coalition also targeted rebel positions in Aden’s neighborhoods of Tawahi and Khor Maksar, said the sources, without providing details on casualties.
The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel said Saudi forces fired artillery at Huthi positions over the border in Yemen. It said the rebels hit a crossing point in Najran province.
The coalition has waged an air war on the rebels since late March in an effort to restore the authority of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who is now based in Riyadh.
Assiri accused the rebels of exploiting the truce to their advantage.
“These militia did not stop their fighting. They continued to attack borders, to attack cities in Yemen,” Assiri said, adding there was “a very big change on the ground” during the pause.
He accused the rebels of moving missiles with a range of about 70 kilometres (43 miles) towards the border with Saudi Arabia, said there was shelling “every day” of the Saudi boundary zone, and the rebels “hijacked” food and fuel aid in Yemen.