Dubai– Shia rebels in north Yemen said on Tuesday they have withdrawn from an area near the Saudi border, five days after a truce went in to effect, allowing the Yemeni army to deploy there.
"We withdrew today from the Manazla front in the Malahidh region, near the Saudi border, and more precisely from Jebel Dahr Homar," rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel Salam told AFP.
This mountainous area witnessed heavy fighting during the six-month war between the rebels and the government, he said, adding that the insurgents had opened a road linking Saada, their stronghold north of Sanaa, and the Saudi border.
Thirty road blocks have been removed along this road, the spokesman said, allowing the army to reach the border and deploy along it.
The rebels on Monday freed the first of five Saudi soldiers captured during the conflict as part of the six-point truce agreement with Sanaa.
But they complained on Sunday that Saudi Arabia was refusing to release the prisoners it is holding in exchange for the five soldiers.
As well as releasing all prisoners and opening roads in the north, the truce required the rebels to withdraw from government buildings, return arms seized from security forces, hand over captured army posts and pledge not to attack Saudi Arabia.
