Yemen strikes resumed ‘because rebels violated truce’

The Saudi-led coalition bombing Yemen blames ceasefire violations by rebels for the resumption of airstrikes against them.

“They did not respect the humanitarian pause. That’s why we do what is necessary to be done,” Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri tells AFP. “There is an operation in process.”

The Arab-dominated coalition resumed bombing an hour after the five-day truce ended at 20:00 GMT on Sunday.

The pause was proposed by Saudi Arabia to allow urgently needed humanitarian aid into Yemen after more than six weeks of bombing, and battles between pro-government and Houthi rebel forces on the ground.

“These militia did not stop their fighting. They continued to attack borders, to attack cities in Yemen,” Assiri says, adding there was “a very big change on the ground” during the pause.

— AFP