Yemen missile launch, Saudi-led air strike strain truce
A 72-hour truce in Yemen came under pressure on October 20 when missiles fired from Yemen killed two civilians in Saudi Arabia, the United States said, while a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes that Iran-allied Houthi fighters said killed three people.
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Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies have been embroiled in a conflict in Yemen since March 2015, fighting on behalf of an exiled Yemeni government against the Houthi group, which controls the capital Sanaa.
A UN-brokered ceasefire took effect late on October 19, raising hopes of an end to a war that has devastated the Arab world's poorest country and left it on the verge of famine.
That brought Sanaa its first night without air strikes in nearly three months, and the truce was generally holding across the Arabian Peninsula state, residents and officials said.
However, rockets were fired by the Houthi group at Jazan and Najran in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led military coalition said in a statement. It said that "43 violations were committed along the border ... in which snipers and various weapons were used, including missiles."
In Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry made a plea for the Houthis to respect the ceasefire after he met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. Kerry said a rocket attack from Houthi territory killed two Saudi civilians, though it was not immediately clear where the deaths occurred.
