10 reportedly killed in Yemen air strikes

The coalition said it has not received a formal request from Hadi’s government to observe a truce, while the rebels said before the ceasefire went into effect they had little hope it would succeed.

Dozens of rebels were killed and injured, including senior Houthi members, during the fighting as Saudi-led warplanes pounded the area around Aden’s international airport, resistance sources said.

The Aden, Yemen, international airport was seized by pro-government forces battling Houthi rebels, officials said.

Resistance forces are eyeing the Houthi-controlled Al-Anad air base in the southern Lahj province, 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Aden, a senior member of the southern Al-Hirak movement told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Leading Sunni kingdom Saudi Arabia has been deeply concerned about Iranian influence in its impoverished southern neighbor and leads an Arab coalition which has since March bombed the rebels and their allies in the armed forces.

The strikes and ground fighting in Yemen have continued for the third day since the start of a U.N.-brokered truce between the rebels and the country’s internationally-backed government in exile and its allies.

As millions face “terrifying” violence, extreme hunger and little medical aid in Yemen, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator today expressed deep concern over the “catastrophic” situation, and renewed his appeal for an “immediate and unconditional humanitarian pause”.

Air strikes hit rebel positions on the outskirts of the port city of Aden as well as a convoy in the city’s neighbourhood of Khor Maksar, a military source said.

Taking advantage of Yemen’s ongoing instability, the Iran-backed Houthis captured Yemen’s capital Sanaa last September and overthrew President Abd-Rabby mansour Hadi, who escaped to exile in Riyadh.

The official said the rebels are putting up a fight at the presidential palace in Crater. Ban said on Thursday that Hadi had “communicated his acceptance of the pause to the coalition to ensure their support and collaboration”.

The Houthis were also reportedly pushed out of several districts in Yemen’s third largest city of Taiz.

Yet despite Saudi intervention there has not been any significant progress, as Yemen’s army units, which are loyal to the country’s previous president and Houthi ally Ali Abdullah Saleh, are putting up a stiff fight.

Yemeni fighters against Shiite rebels gather around military vehicles at the entrance of the airport in the port city of Aden, Yemen, Tuesday, July 14, 2015.

Since March 26, the total number of those who were killed has come up to 1670 whereas, 3,829 civilians had been wounded, said Colville.