Fresh fighting kills 20 in Yemen

Intense fighting in Yemen's southern province of Taiz killed at least 20 people on Sunday, the last day of humanitarian ceasefire announced by the Saudi-led coalition forces that aimed to deliver aid to Yemeni people.

Tribal militia loyal to Yemen's exiled President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and gunmen of the Shiite Houthi group engaged in the fighting, which started late on Saturday night and continued on Sunday morning in Taiz province, Xinhua reported.

Both sides used heavy weapons, including armored vehicles and tanks. The combat zone extended to several neighbourhoods in Taiz province where hundreds of houses were damaged by random mortar shells.

A senior medical official in Taiz confirmed to Xinhua that at least 20 people were killed and more than 70 wounded in the fighting in Taiz since early Sunday morning.

The Shiite Houthi group, backed by army units, and pro-Hadi tribal militia, who have been battling over the control of several Yemeni cities for the past six weeks, have all pledged to respect the truce in order to allow humanitarian aid to reach besieged civilians inside the conflict-torn country.

However, intense fighting flared up just hours after a shaky five-day ceasefire came into effect on Tuesday midnight, hindering the delivery of humanitarian assistance and aid distribution to millions of trapped people.

Saudi Arabia, along with eight other Arab states, has been bombing the Houthi group and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 26, aiming to reinstate the government of Hadi, who was forced to flee the country.

A dialogue conference with participation of several Yemeni political parties, tribes, representatives of country's parliament as well as envoys of regional and international organisations was due to kick off on Sunday in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh.

But representatives of the Shiite Houthi group and some leaders of the General People's Congress party, led by President Saleh refused to join the talks.