Ten deaths reported in Yemen as ceasefire crumbles

Ten people died in Yemen on Friday as a temporary humanitarian truce failed to take hold.

Fierce fighting between local militias and Houthi rebels in the city of Taiz was responsible for the casualties, Reuters reported. Residents in Dhalea also reported combat, it added, but no information was available on the dead or wounded.

“Nothing has changed with this truce,” said Alawi al-Afouri, a resident in the city of Aden.

“People are still fighting and the Houthis are still in control,” he said.

{mosads}Reuters said the five-day ceasefire began on Tuesday.

The temporary lull in fighting was called to help aid workers provide Yemenis with food, fuel and medicine amid prolonged ground combat and airstrikes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also announced on Friday that it was increasing its shipments of medical supplies during the ceasefire.

“More than 20 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies have been flown from WHO’s humanitarian hub in Dubai to Djibouti, where they will be loaded on a UN vessel departing for Hodeida today,” the organization said in a statement.

The U.S. has backed a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states that began a coordinated air campaign against the Houthis on March 26.

Saudi Arabia’s Sunni collective is fighting to restore exiled Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government, while Iran is supporting the Shiite Houthis.

President Obama hosted the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at Camp David on Thursday to discuss Iran, Yemen and other related issues.

“I was very explicit that the United States will stand by our GCC partners against external attack,” Obama told reporters at the summit, which featured leader from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Secretary of State John Kerry initially proposed the ceasefire between the Gulf state coalition and the Houthis on May 7 in Riyadh.

The Houthis first began their insurrection against Hadi in August 2014. Civil war between the rebels and loyalists fighting for his reinstatement has gripped Yemen ever since.