Despite Ceasefire, Saudi Airstrikes Continue to Pound Yemen

City of Taiz Pounded Less Than an Hour After Truce Began

by Jason Ditz, 

Fighting picked up early Friday in Yemen, with the hours leading up to the ceasefire, which began at 23:59 local time, seeing several clashes inside several major cities, including Taiz. Then the ceasefire began, and almost immediately thereafter, Saudi warplanes were attacking Taiz.

Reports are that Saudi airstrikes against Taiz began less than an hour after the ceasefire began, with three different strikes reported, hitting Houthi targets, including a camp and a military convoy.

Pro-Saudi fighters had claimed the Houthis were violating the ceasefire by continuing to advance into the city once it began, and suggested that was the pretext for the Saudi strike. Saudi officials were spurning the truce before it even began, insisting they didn’t trust the Houthis to honor it.

The Houthis, for their part, insisted that they were holding their ground in Taiz against an offensive by pro-Saudi forces, and the airstrikes compounded on that truce violation. The UN is urging both sides to honor the ceasefire, and despite these incidents, strikes appear to have halted across most of the country.

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/07/10/despite-ceasefire-saudi-airstrikes-continue-to-pound-yemen/