Saudi-backed government forces and Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen accused each other of violating a three-day ceasefire on Saturday as the United Nations sought to quell persistent fighting by extending the truce. Ground fighting has raged largely unabated despite the truce, but air attacks on the capital, Sanaa, have stopped and there were fewer Houthi missile strikes on Saudi Arabia, residents and local officials said. Houthi-run Yemeni state news agency Saba said Houthi forces had repelled government advances backed up by Saudi-led air strikes toward the capital Sanaa from multiple directions. Ahmar said U.N. envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed asked to extend the truce for another 72 hours, and government sources told Reuters foreign diplomats also were lobbying both sides to prolong the ceasefire. The Houthis have also called for a negotiated solution to the conflict but were yet to agree on a truce extension.

Source: Egypt Independent October 22, 2016 10:41 UTC