Saudi Arabia Violates Yemen ‘Truce,’ Kills More People

Sun May 17, 2015 4:43AM

Saudi fighter jets have once again carried out airstrikes against Yemen’s northwestern province of Sa’ada as the five-day “ceasefire” announced by Riyadh itself enters its last day.

Late on Saturday, Saudi warplanes bombed the regions of Sahar, Marzaq and Malaheedh in Sa’ada in separate airstrikes.

Reports say at least nine people were killed and several others injured during the air raids.

Saudi warplanes hit targets in Hajjah and Abyan provinces as well.

Saudi air forces bombarded the neighborhoods of Khormaksar, al-Tawahi and Mualla in the southern province of Aden. The air raids caused damage and cut off power in several areas of Aden.

The so-called truce went into effect on May 12. Saudi forces have been continuously violating the “ceasefire” since then.

On Friday afternoon, Saudi forces fired at least eight rockets at the al-Mazraq camp in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah, which is close to the Saudi border and located about 300 kilometers (186 miles) northwest of the capital, Sana’a.

Separately, six rockets fired by Saudi forces slammed into the al-Husamah area in Sa’ada.

The so-called ceasefire went into force nearly seven weeks after Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen - without a UN mandate - in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which currently controls the capital and major provinces, and to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Johannes Van der Klaauw said on Friday that over 1,600 people have been killed and more than 6,200 injured in Yemen since conflict intensified there in late March.

He added that some 450,000 people have been displaced as a result of the continuing violence.