Saudi-led airstrikes pounded the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday, hours before a five-day truce was set to begin between the coalition of Arab nations and Houthi forces who control much of the country.
Residents said three airstrikes hit a base for army units supporting the Houthis in the north of the capital, sending up a column of smoke, Reuters wrote.
In the southern port of Aden, witnesses said the alliance bombed Houthi positions, and local armed groups were still fighting the forces in the city and in Yemen’s south. On Monday, they also exchanged heavy artillery fire on the border.
The ceasefire was set to take effect at 11 p.m. local time to allow the shipment of food and medicine to the blockaded country, which aid groups warn faces a humanitarian catastrophe.
In related news, four suspected al-Qaeda members were killed Monday in an apparent US drone strike on the Yemeni port city of Mukalla, which the militants overran last month, an official said.
The drone targeted a vehicle at the entrance to a presidential palace in Mukalla, capital of the southeastern province of Hadramawt, the official said, asking not to be named.
“Four al-Qaeda members were killed, including leaders, and others wounded,” he said, without being able to name those killed.
