Middle East

Saudi-led air strikes hit Yemen’s Aden after truce expires

Air strikes by Saudi-led forces hit Houthi rebel positions in and around the southern Yemeni city of Aden overnight, residents said, after a five-day humanitarian truce expired on Sunday night.
 
Bombings struck the rebel-held presidential palace in the downtown area, groups of militiamen on the western and eastern approaches to the city as well as the international airport, which is disputed between the Houthis and local fighters.
 
There was no word on any casualties in the strikes.
 
Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Muslim allies have been conducting an offensive against the Houthis for more than six weeks, saying they are backed by Shi'ite power Iran.
 
The campaign has yet to reverse the group's advance into Aden and along battlefronts across Yemen's south.
 
A five-day truce that started on Tuesday night halted the air strikes and allowed humanitarian aid in to the blockaded country, though residents of the remote southern provinces of Shabwa, Dhalea and Abyan said heavy ground fighting persisted despite the agreed pause.
 
The United Nations has called for an extension of the truce to allow humanitarian supplies to be delivered in sufficient quantities.
 
The Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh welcomed that proposal but the Saudi-led forces have said any extension depended on how the other side behaved.

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