Saudi-led Coalition Ends Current Ceasefire in Yemen

The Saudi-led coalition has announced that it will end the current ceasefire in response to daily attacks by Houthi militants and their allies on Saudi cities and civilians. The official Saudi news agency reported that the ceasefire will conclude at midnight on Saturday, January 1. The current ceasefire, which began on December 15, coincided with peace negotiations between the warring parties in Switzerland and was extended after an agreement to resume talks in January. However, the Saudi-led international coalition stated that 'ongoing ballistic missile attacks on Saudi cities, targeting border posts, and hindering humanitarian operations' by the Houthis and their allies are the main reasons for ending the ceasefire. The announcement also noted that Yemeni rebels have continued to 'shell residential areas and detain Yemeni citizens in their controlled areas.' AFP reported that the Houthis and their allies have recently carried out multiple rocket attacks along the Saudi borders, prompting a retaliatory response from the coalition. A day prior, it was reported that Saudi missile defense had intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Yemen and its launch platform. Saudi Arabia is equipped with U.S.-made Patriot missile defense systems. Since the beginning of the Saudi-led coalition's operations, over 80 Saudi nationals, mostly soldiers and border guards, have been killed by Yemeni rebels, while more than six thousand Yemenis have died in coalition attacks. The Houthis, allied with forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, captured Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, last summer. At that time, the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, the President of Yemen, was based in Aden, although he fled to Riyadh in April after the Houthis advanced toward Aden and returned to Aden in November.