Saudi Arabia, Yemen rebels trade charges of truce breaches
Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iranian-backed Shiite rebels on Thursday traded charges of violating a humanitarian cease-fire, as a helicopter gunship belonging to the Saudi-led coalition struck a truck in northern Yemen, killing nine people.
The attack was the latest in a series of violent incidents marring the cease-fire and came as the rivalry over Yemen between Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Shiite, non-Arab Iran escalated, with a senior Iranian official directing unusually harsh comments at Riyadh. The Saudi embassy in Washington said in a statement that the rebels, known as Houthis, have "deliberately" breached the five-day truce, citing seven separate incidents in which forces guarding its border came under attack by rebels using mortars, rockets and sniper fire.
