Rivals swap hundreds of detainees

Yemeni pro-government forces and rebels completed an exchange of hundreds of detainees yesterday, an official said, amid a shaky ceasefire on the third day of UN-sponsored peace talks in Switzerland.

The swap involved 370 Huthi rebels and 285 pro-government fighters, sorces said.

It took place in the Yafaa district of the southern province of Lahj, along the border with the central Bayda province, witnesses said.

Little information has emerged from the open-ended talks in Switzerland aimed at ending Yemen's devastating conflict.

A fragile ceasefire declared by forces loyal to embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, which began on Tuesday, remained shaky with reports of sporadic violations on the ground.

The Saudi-led coalition supporting Hadi accused Huthi Shiite rebels of flouting the ceasefire immediately, and acknowledged that it had "responded to these violations".

More than 5,800 people have been killed in the country -- about half of them civilians -- and more than 27,000 wounded since March, according to the UN.