Yemen quiet as humanitarian truce takes hold
By midnight the fighting had stopped
PHOTO: REUTERS
SANAA:
Yemen fell quiet on Wednesday for the first time since a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against Iran-backed rebels on March 26, as a humanitarian truce appeared to be holding.
"Sanaa had a quiet night as the noise of bombs and anti-aircraft fire that had terrified everyone came to a halt," said a resident of the rebel-held capital, Tawfiq Abdulwahab.
READ:Saudi proposal: Houthi rebels accept 5-day truce option
At dawn, the rebels fired some ground-to-air missiles when coalition reconnaissance planes flew over the capital, but the air defence fire lasted only briefly, witnesses said.
"We hope this truce becomes permanent. We finally managed to sleep peacefully last night," said 25-year-old Sanaa resident Mohammed al-Saadi.
The coalition had warned that the five-day pause in its bombing campaign was conditional on the rebels reciprocating and not exploiting it for military advantage.
It had warned that it would punish any breach.
It took an hour or so for ground fighting between the rebels and loyalists of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to halt in some provinces.
READ:Pakistani, Saudi killed in bombardments near Yemen border: media
But by Wednesday, the warring sides had ceased fire, they said.
Yemen fell quiet on Wednesday for the first time since a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against Iran-backed rebels on March 26, as a humanitarian truce appeared to be holding.
"Sanaa had a quiet night as the noise of bombs and anti-aircraft fire that had terrified everyone came to a halt," said a resident of the rebel-held capital, Tawfiq Abdulwahab.
READ:Saudi proposal: Houthi rebels accept 5-day truce option
At dawn, the rebels fired some ground-to-air missiles when coalition reconnaissance planes flew over the capital, but the air defence fire lasted only briefly, witnesses said.
"We hope this truce becomes permanent. We finally managed to sleep peacefully last night," said 25-year-old Sanaa resident Mohammed al-Saadi.
The coalition had warned that the five-day pause in its bombing campaign was conditional on the rebels reciprocating and not exploiting it for military advantage.
It had warned that it would punish any breach.
It took an hour or so for ground fighting between the rebels and loyalists of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to halt in some provinces.
READ:Pakistani, Saudi killed in bombardments near Yemen border: media
But by Wednesday, the warring sides had ceased fire, they said.