Calm prevails in northern Yemen truce

Calm prevailed in northern Yemen on Saturday, the second day of a shaky truce between government forces and Shiite rebels that broke into deadly violence hours after it went into effect, both sides said.

"The situation is calm on all fronts in Saada province," the centre of the sic-year old rebellion, said one military source.

"But the calm is precarious," said another.

A spokesman for rebel leader Abdul Malak al-Huthi confirmed that, adding that the "ceasefire is being respected and the situation is developing positively".

A ceasefire in the government's latest, six-month campaign to crush the rebellion went into effect at midnight (2100 GMT) on Thursday.

However, only hours later Yemen's army accused the rebels of breaking the truce, saying they had killed four soldiers in a string of attacks.

 

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