SANAA, Yemen
The command of an international air coalition led by Saudi Arabia announced Saturday that a five-day humanitarian truce would begin in war-torn Yemen the following day, according to Saudi Arabia’s official press agency.
The humanitarian truce follows two others -- which began on July 10 and May 12 respectively -- both of which were quickly broken.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, the latest truce comes “at the request of Yemen’s president-in-exile, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi”.
Some observers fear this truce, too, will be broken, as the coalition’s command has vowed -- despite the ceasefire -- to respond with force to any military action taken by Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia.
Earlier Saturday, Houthi leaders asserted that 55 civilians had been killed by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on the Al-Mukha area of Yemen’s Taiz province, according to the Houthi-run SABA News Agency.
Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when Houthi militiamen overran capital Sanaa, from which they have since extended their influence southwards to other parts of the country.
In March, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began an extensive air campaign targeting Houthi positions across Yemen.
