Saudi-led forces say Yemen truce in effect

The Saudi-led forces waging war in Yemen say a ceasefire announced earlier has now taken effect as scheduled.

Spokesman of the Saudi-led forces Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri has confirmed that the truce had begun at 0900 GMT on Tuesday.

This is while Yemen's Ansarullah movement, which has been fighting against Saudi-led forces since March, has yet to react to the ceasefire announcement.

Meanwhile, a United Nations spokesman has also confirmed the Riyadh announcement.

"UN Secretary-General Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed announces today the start of cessation of hostilities in Yemen which he considers an initial first step towards building a lasting peace in the country," UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told a news briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

The ceasefire followed a request by fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. Hadi wrote to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, informing him of a decision by the former Yemeni government to "declare a seven-day ceasefire initiative" on the eve of the UN-sponsored peace talks on Yemen conflict in Switzerland.

"The ceasefire (will last) for a period of seven days starting from December 15 to 21 in conjunction with the launch of consultations, and will be renewed automatically in the event of the commitment of the other party," a statement citing Hadi and published by Saudi Arabia’s official Saudi Press Agency read.

Representatives of both the Houthi Ansarullah movement and the Saudi-backed former Yemeni president are now in Switzerland ahead of the Tuesday talks aimed at ending the crisis in Yemen.

Meanwhile, five mortar rounds reportedly struck pro-Hadi militiamen in Yemen’s strategic southwestern city of Ta’izz, situated 346 kilometers (214 miles) south of the capital, Sana'a, shortly after the ceasefire began. No reports of casualties and the extent of damage were immediately available.

On Monday, a high-ranking Saudi commander and an Emirati officer were killed in Ta’izz.

The two men, identified as Saudi Colonel Abdullah al-Sahyan and Emirati officer Sultan al-Kitbi, were killed when Ansarullah fighters fired a rocket at a gathering of Saudi-led military forces.

Late on Monday, Saudi warplanes carried out two aerial assaults against a residential neighborhood in the Harad district of Yemen’s southwestern province of Hajjah, located approximately 130 kilometers (80 miles) northwest of Sana’a, leaving 15 civilians dead and 20 others injured.

Yemen has been under military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March. The Saudi strikes were launched to supposedly undermine the Ansarullah movement and bring fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.

More than 7,500 people have been killed and over 14,000 others injured since March. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools and factories.

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