MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The truce entered into effect on Tuesday night after the Houthis, who are fighting government forces in Yemen, agreed to Saudi Arabia's proposition to halt hostilities in a bid to help provide humanitarian relief to the crisis-hit country.
Yemen’s children at immediate risk of severe malnutrition as fighting continues, says @UNICEF http://t.co/rrZ3aCOrco http://t.co/puHW9fZEr0
— UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) May 13, 2015
The command of the Restoring Hope operation, which began last month to replace an air campaign against Houthi positions in Yemen, said in a statement that the militants launched shells at the Saudi-Yemeni border, as well as in the Dali and Aden provinces, according to Saudi Arabia's press agency.
Yemen: Eyewitness accounts indicate Huthis attacked civilians and medical workers in Aden http://t.co/tHoyosxrC4
— AmnestyInternational (@AmnestyOnline) May 13, 2015
16m ppl in #Yemen are desperately in need of aid. UNSC united in welcoming humanitarian pause; vital that all sides abide by the pause.
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) May 13, 2015
The coalition forces began conducting airstrikes in late March at the request of displaced Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
The Restoring Hope operation, which is aimed at countering terrorism and finding a political solution to the Yemeni crisis, has failed to bring an end to Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen.
Families now live in the open air in Abs district of Hajjah governorate, #Yemen, after fleeing conflict pic.twitter.com/76hKz1xPEd
— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) May 13, 2015
According to UN estimates, some 650 civilians have been killed and 1,300 others injured in Yemen since late March.