Yemen: soldiers killed despite truce

The Yemeni army announced on Sunday that four soldiers had been killed and six others wounded in truce violations by the Houthi forces. The humanitarian truce was due to end at midnight last night.

According to the Yemeni armed forces’ media centre, the Houthi militia committed 271 violations of the UN truce over the past two days in the governorates of Hodeida, Taiz, Al-Dhalea, Abyan, Hajjah, Saada, Al-Jawf and Marib across the country. The alleged violations included bombings and attempts to infiltrate army sites, which were thwarted.

The media centre said that the Houthi militia has increased its efforts to fortify various locations, build roads, mobilise reinforcements and deploy reconnaissance drones.

Since the beginning of July, thirty Yemeni soldiers have been killed and 114 others have been wounded in attacks carried out by the Houthis, despite the truce, Arabi 21 has reported based on government forces’ data.

The Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah channel, however, reported on Sunday that truce violations were committed by the Yemeni army and Saudi forces on the western and northern fronts. The channel quoted an unnamed military source as saying that the “enemy” forces committed 65 violations, a reference to the coalition led by Riyadh, including the establishment of fortifications in the Jabaliya, Hays and Maqbna areas.

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The Houthi military source added that reconnaissance planes were flying in those areas, at a time when the Saudi artillery was shelling the Shada district of the Saada governorate which shares a border with the kingdom.

The UN truce agreed by the two parties in June, which followed an earlier truce which started in April, entered its final hours yesterday. Regional and international efforts are being made to renew it for a further six months.