Reports of firing ballistic missile, airstrikes amid Yemen-Coalition fragile cease-fire

Yemen's dominant Shiite Houthis said Saturday that they fired a ballistic missile into Saudi military base in retaliatory attack over airstrikes from Saudi-led coalition despite cease-fire that went into effect hours earlier.

"The Rocketry Unit of the army and popular forces fired a ballistic missile deep into the Saudi military base, Almosim inside the Saudi border city of Jizan," the Houthi-controlled state Saba news agency reported, citing an unnamed military official as saying.

"The missile attack came in response to cease-fire breaches carried out by the Saudi-led coalition through a series of airstrikes on the capital Sanaa and neighboring cities, as well as the coalition troops' attempts to advance into the central province of Marib and the Red Sea port city of Medi in northwestern province of Hajja," the official said.

"This escalation by the coalition was clear violation to the truce deal that struck in the Omani capital Muscat," the official added.

Houthis officials, according to Saba, held the United Nations and the coalition responsible for the possibility of truce collapse.

It was the latest in a series of ballistic missile attacks by Houthis against Saudi border cities.

It was difficult to reach coalition officials to comment on the Houthi allegations.

Residents in the capital Sanaa reported coalition fighter jets flying over the city hours after the 48-hour ceasefire went into effect at noon local time.

Meanwhile, residents in the southern city of Taiz reported non-stop battles between Houthi fighters backed by forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh and their foes of coalition-backed internationally recognized government of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Hadi's government has provided that Houthis end siege on Taiz to allow humanitarian aid to get in.

Previously cease-fire deals had collapsed, with both sides trading accusations over breaching truce.

The truce was based on a peace deal initiated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last Tuesday following his visit to Oman, where he announced the cease-fire in the Omani capital Muscat, saying that the Houthi group and the Saudi-led coalition had agreed on the cessation of hostilities.

The cease-fire aimed to pave the way for resuming the UN-sponsored peace talks between Houthis, Saleh's party and the Saudi-led coalition. Kerry said the roadmap was strongly supported by the UN envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

However, Hadi's Foreign Minister Abdel-Malik al-Mekhlafi said his government was not aware of what Secretary Kerry announced about reaching an agreement with Houthis.

Mekhlafi said Kerry's announcement was in conflict with UN Security Council Resolution 2216.

Houthis, backed by Saleh forced, seized control of power in 2014, throwing Hadi and his government over alleged accusations of corruption. The accusations were denied by Hadi's government, which called for the coalition military help in March 2015 to restore power.

The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 10,000 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over 2 million, according to humanitarian agencies. Endit