Sanaa (AFP) – A UN envoy called for an extension of a humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen due to expire on Sunday.
The appeal followed clashes on the ground between rebels and pro-government forces that killed dozens across south Yemen on Saturday despite the truce, which has largely held.
“I call on all parties to renew their commitment to this truce for five more days at least,” UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in the Saudi capital.
Aid groups have also called for a lasting truce in the impoverished country, where a Saudi-led regional coalition has been waging an air war on the Iran-backed Huthis since late March.
Yemeni political parties began talks Sunday in the Saudi capital aimed at finding a political solution to the crisis.
But the Houthis stayed away from the meeting of about 400 delegates including President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who has taken refuge in Riyadh.
The war has sent tensions soaring between Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and its Shiite rival Iran.
An Iranian aid ship bound for Yemen in defiance of US warnings has entered the Gulf of Aden and is expected to reach port on Thursday, media in Tehran reported.
The ship’s mission has been overshadowed by US calls for it to head to a UN emergency relief hub in Djibouti instead of docking in the Yemeni port of Hodeida.
Clashes raged overnight Saturday in the central city of Taez between rebels — supported by troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh — and pro-Hadi forces.
The rebels, who seized the capital in September and have since swept across many other regions, bombed a village south of Taez city, killing 14 civilians, a local official said.
Sporadic clashes also continued in Aden, which has been the scene of fierce fighting since rebels advanced on the southern port city in late March after Hadi took refuge there.
The United Nations has called for the Saudi-led coalition to simplify import inspections after warning that supplies were still blocked.
A UAE ship carrying 1,200 tonnes of food supply docked in Aden on Saturday, according to Naef al-Bakri, undersecretary of the Aden governorate.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has accused the Huthis of repeatedly violating ceasefire terms.
Three suspected militants were killed late Saturday in a US drone strike that targeted a vehicle transporting weapons in Habban, in southern Shabwa province, a tribal chief said.