Deadly clashes before latest Yemen truce

Heavy fighting rocked Yemen hours before a UN-brokered ceasefire was due to begin yesterday, as warring parties come under mounting pressure to end a conflict that has raged for more than two years.

The truce will be the sixth attempt to end the bloodshed since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 to support the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after rebels overran much of Yemen.

Almost 6,900 have been killed -- more than half of them civilians -- while another three million are displaced and millions more need food aid.

A United Nations report said air strikes by the coalition were suspected of causing around half of all civilian deaths, while rebel-affiliated groups were responsible for about a quarter.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, on Sunday announced the truce from 23:59 (2059 GMT) for an initial three days, subject to renewal.

Hadi's government said it would agree to the truce if rebels also adhered to it, and also called for the insurgents to monitor the ceasefire and end their siege of Yemen's third city, Taez.

The rebels, in a statement on Tuesday night, expressed readiness for a "lasting ceasefire, comprehensive and without conditions".

Military sources however said rebel positions in the northern Saada province were struck by coalition raids yesterday.  At least two loyalists were killed and 15 wounded in fighting near the Red Sea, in Hajja province, the sources said. Air strikes and fighting were also reported in Taez.