Civilians in Yemen’s Aden struggle to survive fighting, shortages — Red Cross

The news agency also said Houthi forces launched rockets against a number of Saudi army positions, including a military airport in the southern city of Najran, in response to what it described as Saudi aggression against Yemen.

It was unclear if he was in his residence.

The United Nations envoy is also holding discussions with the pro-Hadi government in Saudi Arabia to push for a pause, sources said.

Houthi-controlled state-run Saba news agency reported that six people were killed in the fresh air raids.

The United Nations on Wednesday designated the Yemen war as a Level 3 humanitarian crisis, its most-severe category.

There have been repeated jailbreaks in Yemen since the Huthis launched an offensive last summer, overrunning the capital and then much of the country. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

The damage, Lamon said, was “very partial”, and the refinery continues to be tapped for local use and serves as a vital lifeline for residents, hospitals and aid groups.

On Thursday, the USA State Department called for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict during the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan to allow worldwide aid organizations to deliver urgently needed food, medicine, and fuel.

But the IS militant group too has exploited the conflict to enter the fray, carrying out a string of deadly attacks against Houthis targets since March.

The resolution, adopted by the Security Council in April, stipulates Houthis and forces loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh withdraw from the towns and cities of Yemen and put down their weapons. The ISIS said they targeted rebel leaders Faycal and Hamid Jayache, calling Sanaa a “Shiite nest” of Yemen’s “Houthi apostates”.

Saudi Arabia, determined to thwart any arms deliveries to the Houthis, has imposed a near total blockade on a country heavily reliant on imports.

After talks in Riyadh with the exiled government, he expressed optimism on Wednesday that a humanitarian truce could be agreed.

More than 2,600 people have been killed in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country since March, according to United Nations figures.

It claimed responsibility for an attack on June 30 in the capital that killed at least 28 people and another on June 18 that killed at least 50 people.