'Five Houthi commanders killed in Yemen'

Sanaa, Oct 21 (IANS/AKI) Five senior commanders from Yemens Shia Houthi rebel movement have been killed in clashes in its northern heartland of Saada province and in western Marib province, the Al-Arabyia TV channel reported on Thursday.

Aqil al Dulaimi, Hisham al Dulaimi and Kamal al Dulaimi were killed in Serwah in Marib, Al-Arabiya said, citing unnamed sources.

A special forces commander for former authoritarian President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Abdul Latif Hatim, was killed in northeast Saada with Abu Ali Abdullah Mohammed al-Houthi, a field commander said to be close to the Houthi leadership, Al-Arabiya quoted the sources as saying.

A truce brokered by the United Nations began late on Wednesday between pro-Houthi forces and those loyal to exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The fragile UN-backed truce is intended to last at least three days, although there have been reports of sporadic clashes.

A coalition has been fighting the Iran-backed Houthis and their allies since March 2015, when a Saudi-led air campaign began in support of Hadi -- Yemen's internationally recognised President.

--IANS/AKI

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