Nighttime Curfew Declared In Yemen Days After Ceasefire Is Called Off

The ceasefire between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Huthi rebels ended on Saturday after repeated breaches.

The Yemeni government has declared a nighttime curfew in the key port city of Aden days after a ceasefire between the Saudi-led coalition and rebels was called off.

The ceasefire between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Huthi rebels ended on Saturday, just over two weeks after the two entities entered the deal.

And according to Aden's governor, Aidarous al-Zubaidi, a curfew will be in place every night from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. for an unspecified period, AP reported.

Saudi state news agency SPA released a statement charging the Huthi rebels with breaching the truce by launching several "blatant attacks on the territory of the Kingdom by the launch of ballistic missiles toward Saudi cities," obstructing relief efforts to distribute food and medical supplies to Yemeni civilians, and targeting Saudi border zones.

The statement decried that the Huthi rebels had shown a "lack of seriousness and disregard for civilian lives," and officially ended the ceasefire at 2 p.m. local time.

The ceasefire began on Dec. 15, as did peace talks between the Yemeni government and Huthi rebels at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

It had initially been scheduled to start the day before, but had to be pushed back after two senior officers from the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Huthi rebels — a Saudi colonel and an Emerati officer — were killed.

The Saudi interior minister also announced on Saturday that 47 people had been executed, including an al-Qaeda affiliate and an anti-government Shiite cleric.

According to Reuters, peace talks are scheduled to resume on Jan. 14.

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