Saudi-led air strikes hit Yemen after truce expires
Saudi-led forces resumed military operations in Yemen after a five-day ceasefire ended late last weekend, and Yemen's exiled government in Riyadh and the Iranian-allied Houthis blamed each other for a failure to renew the truce.
The ceasefire ended despite appeals by the United Nations and rights groups for extra time to allow badly needed humanitarian supplies into the country of 25 million, one of the poorest in the Middle East.
"That's what we said before - that if they start again, we will start again," Yemeni Foreign Minister Reyad Yassin Abdulla told Reuters.
He said the coalition was not considering any new ceasefire but would not target air and sea ports needed for aid shipments.
Saudi-led forces conducted three air strikes on Yemen's northern Saada province on May 18, according to Houthi media, which said Saudi forces had fired 70 rockets and artillery shells into north Yemen.
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television reported heavy shelling by Saudi forces at Houthi outposts across the border after the fighters fired mortars at an army post in Saudi Arabia's southern Najran province.
Earlier in the day, residents said that warplanes struck the Houthi-held presidential palace in Yemen's southern port of Aden as well as groups of militiamen on the western and eastern approaches to the city and the international airport where Houthis and local fighters have been fighting.
There was no word on casualties.
Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Muslim allies have been conducting an offensive against the Houthis and units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh for more than seven weeks, saying the rebels are backed by Shi'ite Muslim power Iran.
The campaign has yet to reverse the Houthis' advance into Aden and along battlefronts across Yemen's south, and diplomats say the group does not appear to be under enough pressure to force it into making political concessions.