Sanaa: The Saudi-led coalition launched new airstrikes in at least two Yemeni provinces on Monday, piercing a humanitarian pause that started at midnight the previous day, security officials said.
The US-backed coalition of mainly Gulf Arab countries has been waging an air campaign since March against the Iran-supported Shiite rebels, who control most of northern Yemen and the capital, Sanaa.
Two of Monday's airstrikes killed 15 fighters allied with the coalition in the province of Lahj, security officials and field commanders said. More than 40 fighters were wounded in the apparently accidental strikes, they said, adding that the death toll was expected to rise.
The strikes happened near the strategic military base of al-Anad, which is held by the rebels known as Houthis, and which was also hit by coalition planes on Monday. The coalition also struck north of the port city of Aden.
Airstrikes had been halted for hours but ground fighting erupted in multiple provinces within minutes of the start of the unilateral cease-fire on late Monday
The Houthis said in a statement that they fired missiles across the border at a Saudi military position in thekingdom's Jazan region. The Saudi-owned Al-Hadath news channel said Saudi forces "responded" to Houthi shelling in Jazan, without elaborating.
Fierce clashes also broke out Monday in the nearby town of Sabr, which is on a key supply route. Officials aligned with pro-government fighters say they have regained control of the center of the town and were trying to advance into northern neighborhoods.
Witnesses who fled Sabr on Monday morning said that corpses of fighters lay in the street next to destroyed military vehicles. The witnesses spoke on condition of
anonymity, fearing for their own safety.
There were sporadic clashes in Yemen's central Marib province, officials said. In the city of Taiz, mortar shells fired in the center of the city killed four civilians, security and medical officials said. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Anti-aircraft gunfire was heard in the rebel-held Sanaa as coalition planes buzzed overhead. The humanitarian pause was intended to help allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to ease the suffering of civilians in the Arab world's poorest country.
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