Saudi-led coalition losing patience with Yemen truce breaches

The Saudi-led coalition against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen warned on Thursday that its restraint "would not last long" in the face of continued breaches of a truce.

In a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency it said Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels "continue violating the truce for the second day in a row."

The coalition accused the militia of shelling Saudi troops in the border zone.

Inside Yemen, the rebels "continued moving their machineries, carrying out military operations, and targeting citizens' homes" with tanks and missiles in six provinces including Aden, it said.

The coalition remained keen to make the truce succeed "but at the same time, warns the Huthi militias and their supporters that self-restraint and being committed to the truce would not last long in case the militias continue such practices", it said.

Early Thursday the coalition accused the rebels of 12 contraventions of the ceasefire, which began at 2000 GMT on Tuesday, along the Saudi-Yemen border and in Yemen itself.

The Saudi-led coalition on March 26 began bombing the rebels who had taken over large parts of neighbouring Yemen.

Riyadh feared they would occupy the entire country and move it into the orbit of its Shiite regional rival Iran.

The Huthi rebels and their allies had indicated they would abide by the ceasefire, which was proposed by Saudi Arabia and supported by the United States in order to allow aid into the stricken country.
Source: AFP