SANAA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Wednesday that they shot down a "spy drone" of the Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government, accusing the coalition of violating the truce.
"Our air defense shot down with a surface-to-air missile the drone that was hovering over Haradh city in the province of Hajjah in violation of the truce," Houthi-run al-Masirah TV quoted the Houthi military spokesman Yehya Sarea as saying in a statement.
There was no comment yet from the coalition or the Yemeni government.
A two-month cease-fire agreement, brokered by the United Nations between the Houthi militia and the coalition-backed Yemeni government, entered into force on April 2.
The truce includes allowing the entry of 18 fuel ships into the Houthi-held port of Hodeidah and two commercial flights a week to and from the Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport, and allowing humanitarian aid access to the government-held city of Taiz.
So far the cease-fire in Yemen has been largely held despite occasional accusations of breaches traded between the warring sides.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million and pushed the population to the brink of starvation. ■
