Yemeni gov't: Shiite rebels not fulfilling agreed truce

The Yemeni government on Sunday accused the Shiite rebels in the north of not fulfilling the ceasefire deal agreed in February, the country's Defense Ministry said.

"Although the government and the Shiite rebels reached the ceasefire agreement more than four months ago and the military operations halted based on the commitment to the truce, the rebels have been lingering over implementing the agreed terms of the truce," an official overseeing the ceasefire deal told Defense Ministry's on-line website.

The official called on the rebels to commit themselves to the agreed truce and to stop impeding efforts to bring peace to Saada province and the Harf Sufian district of Amran province.

On Friday, Yemeni Interior Ministry said Shiite rebels blew up the home of a pro-government tribal chieftain in a northern ceasefire area, killing three people.

Since 2004, Yemen has witnessed sporadic battles between government troops and the Shiite Houthi rebels whom the government accused of seeking to re-establish the clerical rule overthrown by the 1962 Yemeni revolution which yielded the Yemeni republic.

On February 11, the government and Shiite rebels struck a ceasefire agreement to end the conflict in the northern part of the country, however, both sides repeatedly trade accusations of breaching the truce which still holds so far.

Source: Xinhua