Aid flows in Yemen as ceasefire takes hold

Aid agencies began delivering help to desperate civilians in Yemen today as a five-day ceasefire took hold after nearly seven weeks of Saudi-led air strikes against Iran-backed rebels.
The humanitarian pause -- which began at 11:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Tuesday -- is the first break in the air war in support of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since its launch on March 26 and has strong backing from Washington.
Hours after it took effect a Saudi defence ministry official said rockets were fired from Yemen's rebel-held north, hitting the border areas of Jazan and Najran inside the kingdom.
The official said there were no casualties and that Saudi forces had "practised self-restraint as part of their commitment" to the truce.

The alleged attack came despite a promise by the Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies to abide by the ceasefire. Riyadh has warned it will punish any attempt to exploit the truce.
A US State Department spokesman said that while the truce was "broadly" holding, it had received some reports of clashes after the ceasefire began.

"We urge all parties to continue to... Honour the commitment to restraint," spokesman Jeff Rathke said.
As aid agencies said they were starting to deliver assistance, residents of the rebel-held capital Sanaa told AFP the ceasefire came as a much-needed relief.
"We hope this truce becomes permanent. We finally managed to sleep peacefully last night," said 25-year-old Mohammed al-Saadi.

More than 1,500 people have been killed since mid-March in the air campaign and fighting between rebel forces and Hadi loyalists, according to the United Nations.
The Huthi rebels, allied with army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, have taken control of large parts of Yemen including Sanaa and were advancing on Hadi's southern stronghold of Aden when Riyadh launched the air campaign.