Airstrikes resume in Sanaa as UN envoy due to revive Yemen truce

Saudi-led military coalition fighting Shiite Houthi rebels resumed airstrikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa Sunday morning, hours after a UN-mediated ceasefire expired, as the UN envoy is due in Sanaa within hours to seek an extension of the truce.

Houthi-controlled state Saba news agency cited a military official as saying that the planes launched nine air strikes on several residential areas in Sanaa in the morning.

"The planes fired various types of bunker buster missiles and bombs that jolted the whole city," the official was quoted as saying.

Residents told Xinhua that the warplanes hit al-Hafa mountainous military site in al-Sabeen district southeast of the capital five times.

The jets also waged two other strikes on adjacent military location in Mount Noqum, while the rest strikes struck al-Daylami air force base north of Sanaa, said the residents.

The airstrikes triggered an earthquake-like shake, causing huge damage to hundreds of residential houses, public and private properties, said the residents, adding that the fighter jets continued intensely flying over Sanaa.

Meanwhile, Houthi officials told reporters that the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has informed the leadership of Houthis and their allies of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh that he would arrive in Sanaa within next few hours to seek an extension of the truce.

Both sides, the dominant Shiite Houthi rebels and exiled government of internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, have traded accusations of breaching the truce as ground fighting raged on largely all combat fronts throughout the three-day truce.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia accused Houthi fighters of firing rockets into its border cities of Jazan and Najran while Houthis said they were retaliating Saudi-led airstrikes on the Yemeni cities.

The truce collapsed after a series of attempts failed to cease the hostilities in Yemen since 2014.

The conflict in Yemen began after the 2011 Arab-spring style mass protests eventually forced former President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

Houthis, with the support of Saleh, seized capital Sanaa and some other Yemeni cities in September 2014, forcing Hadi and his government into exile.

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in March 2015 with an air force campaign to restore Hadi to power and roll back Houthi gains.

The 19-month civil war in Yemen has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians. Endit