(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Saudi-led forces resumed military operations in Yemen after a five-day ceasefire ended late on Sunday, and Yemen's exiled government in Riyadh and the Iranian-allied Houthis blamed each other for a failure to renew the truce.
The ceasefire ended despite appeals by the United Nations and rights groups for extra time to allow badly needed humanitarian supplies into the country.
"That's what we said before - that if they start again, we will start again," Yemeni Foreign Minister Reyad Yassin Abdulla said.
He said the coalition was not considering any new ceasefire but would not target air and sea ports needed for aid shipments.
Saudi-led forces conducted three air strikes on Yemen's northern Saada province yesterday, according to Houthi media, which said Saudi forces had fired 70 rockets and artillery shells into north Yemen.
Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television reported heavy shelling by Saudi forces at Houthi outposts across the border after the fighters fired mortars at an army post in Saudi Arabia's southern Najran province.
Earlier in the day, residents said that warplanes struck the Houthi-held presidential palace in Yemen's southern port of Aden as well as groups of militiamen on the western and eastern approaches to the city and the international airport where Houthis and local fighters have been fighting.
Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Muslim allies have been conducting an offensive against the Houthis and units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh for more than seven weeks, saying the rebels are backed by Shia Muslim power Iran.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington supported extending the truce, but that manoeuvres by the Houthis made that difficult.
"It was always understood that if there were proactive moves by one side or another, then that would be in violation of the ceasefire arrangement," he said.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir expressed "regret that the truce did not achieve its humanitarian goals" and held the Houthis responsible.
The Houthis said Saudi forces had conducted air strikes and artillery attacks across the border throughout the truce, which was denied by Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, the coalition spokesman.
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