Sana’a — Saudi-led air strikes in Yemen put an end to the ceasefire between both sides of the civil war this Wednesday.

The ceasefire consisted in a seven days truce that started on Tuesday, and it was supposed to temporarily stop the 9-month long civil war between the Houthi movement, based in the northern part of Yemen, and fighters from the east and south backed by Saudi forces and loyal to Yemeni mandatary Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Yemen-ceasefire-ended
Shiite tribesmen, known as Houthis, hold their weapons during a gathering showing support for the Houthi movement. Credit: ABC News

The pact involved a prisoner swap in which both parties would exchange 360 members from the Houthi movement for 265 fighters and civilians from the south.

According to Yemeni officials, the exchange was meant to take place on a venue located in the central region of the country, and the prisoners were already headed there by bus before the truce was broken when Saudi forces hit two conflict zones where Houthi movement members were located.

“Coalition planes launched an air strike on the positions of the Houthis and Saleh forces in the Najd area of Sirwah district after they repeatedly violated the ceasefire,” a tribal source reported.

Southern residents, on the other hand, claim that the Houthis launched rockets in the city of Taiz. According to SPA — a Saudi news outlet — Houthi members are responsible for the murder of a southern officer in a border area after the truce began. Sabanew.net added that five fighters and three civilians were also killed in the city, in the middle of a Houthi attack.

Brigadier General Sharaf Luqman, spokesman for the Houthis side, stated that a serious escalation by land, sea and air was taking place by the alliance in different areas. Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asseri, the southern coalition’s spokesman, is yet to be contacted for declarations on his side.

Luqman added that apart from the strikes on the city of Taiz, there were also attacks taking place from the Red Sea, on the port city of Hodaida, as well as air strikes from Saudi-led forces.

The Brigadier also declared that they wouldn’t stay “hand tied,” but they would respond strongly to the violations of the alliance.

The Yemeni civil war has claimed the life of nearly 6,000 people to this day.

Source: Huffington Post