AT LEAST three people were reported to have been killed in Yemen after Saudi forces launched a barrage of rockets just hours after the announcement of a UN-brokered two-month ceasefire. 

According to the al-Masirah television network the deaths occurred as residential areas in the north-western Shada’a province came under heavy shelling.

The two-month truce came into effect at 7pm local time on Saturday. 

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said the agreement “must be a first step to ending Yemen’s devastating war” and a negotiated settlement. 

Houthi official Abdul Malik al-Ajri welcomed the move but said it would not meet the most urgent needs of the Yemeni people, which meant ending the blockade of the port of Hudayda.

“The ceasefire will reduce the hardship and problems of our people, and will be a prelude to the complete lifting of the siege and a final solution,” he said. 

The Saudi-led war marked its seventh anniversary last month. According to UN statistics nearly 400,000 people have been killed since March 2015 with millions on the brink of starvation. 

Riyadh and its allies aim to restore the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi who was ousted in a popular Houthi-led uprising.