AT LEAST two civilians were killed on Saturday night when Saudi Arabian border troops fired artillery rounds into residential areas in Yemen’s north-western Saada province. 

The attack breached a two-month UN-brokered ceasefire agreed between the warring parties last week amid hopes of an end to seven years of devastating war.

According to Yemeni military sources, the truce has been violated 108 times in the last 24 hours, including Saturday’s shelling. 

At least 76 espionage flights were carried out over Saada, al-Jawf and Hajjah provinces as well as the central province of al-Bayda, they reported, and homes in a number of villages in Marib province were also targeted by “Saudi-backed militants,” the military sources said.

The prospects of a negotiated settlement were improved when former Yemeni president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi ceded power to a new leadership council last week. 

Its leader Rashad al-Alimi promised an end to the war via a peace process during a televised speech on Friday. 

“The leadership council promises the people to end the war and achieve peace through a comprehensive peace process that guarantees the Yemeni people all its aspirations,” he said.