Saudis declare a humanitarian truce in Yemen
July 25, 2015
The unilateral truce is set to start on Sunday, at one minute before midnight, coalition said in a statement Saturday.
Saudi authorities made the decision at the urging of embattled Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Hadi asked Saudi's King Salman for a truce that would allow "delivery and distribution of the maximum amount of humanitarian and medical aid," according to the statement carried by official Saudi news agency SPA.
Riyadh supports the exiled president, who had taken refugee in Saudi Arabia.
UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said he was on his way to Riyadh to meet president Hadi and other Gulf officials.
The Saudi-led coalition promised to cease military operations for five days, but also vowed to respond to "military activity or movement" by Shiite Houthi rebels.
Famine looming
Earlier on Saturday, coalition strikes killed at least 80 people in central Yemeni city of Taiz. According to local sources, the planes targeted residential area of Mokha, inhabited mostly by engineers and workers of a local power station, alongside some displaced families.
Other reports claimed an even higher death toll, with coalition airstrikes allegedly killing over 120 civilians.
On Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned of worsening clashes in Taiz and the port city of Aden, saying it was "becoming increasingly difficult" to evacuate the dead and the wounded and provide life-saving assistance.
Red Cross' mission chief in Yemen Antoine Grand also warned of "shortages of water, food and fuel across the country."
The UN has already brokered two ceasefires, but they never took hold. The latest such initiative was only announced earlier this month. The ongoing clashes have also blocked UN efforts to distribute food aid to some 13 million people hit by food shortages.
After months of fighting, Yemen is "one step away from famine" according to the UN.