国际英语新闻:Cease-fire breaches in Yemen's Hodeidah continue despite UN-led monitors' presence

ADEN, Yemen, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The two-warring Yemeni sides continued Thursday cease-fire breaches in Yemen's Red Sea port city of Hodeidah despite the presence of a monitoring team led by the United Nations, local sources told Xinhua.

Forces loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni government blamed the Houthi rebels of launching sporadic mortar shells attacks against a number of residential areas and military sites over the past 24 hours.

An army commander told Xinhua by phone saying that the Houthi rebels randomly shelled military sites of the government in Durayhmi and other nearby residential areas with mortar shells.

Earlier in the day, the Houthis attacked with rocket-propelled grenades locations of the joint pro-government military forces in alJaah area of Hodeidah, the army commander said.

The Saudi-led coalition backing the legitimate Yemeni government said in a statement that "Houthi militias have violated the Hodeidah cease-fire 29 times in the past 24 hours."

On the other side, the Houthi rebels accused the government forces of shelling AlShabab neighborhood and the 9th street with heavy gunfire.

Residents confirmed to Xinhua that the two-warring sides continued in exchanging heavy gunfire including artillery shelling throughout the day but sporadically.

On Wednesday, the UN-led team tasked with monitoring a cease-fire held the first meeting with the presence of retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, head of the joint committee which includes both government officials and representatives from the Houthi rebel group.

Cammaert visited the strategic seaport of Hodeidah and other neighboring areas that witnessed fierce battles between the government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthi rebels over the past months.

The cease-fire deal signed between the two-warring rivals last week in Sweden demanded full withdrawal of all armed groups from Hodeidah and its strategic seaports.

According to the deal, the UN will manage the port and supervise the re-deployment of neutral forces there to prevent military escalation, while local forces will help maintain law and order in the city.

During the first days of the cease-fire that went into effect last week, tense calm was observed in the neighborhoods of Hodeidah despite the heavy deployment of fighters of the two-warring sides inside and around the city.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi rebels overtook the capital Sanaa and toppled the government of President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition has been fighting the Houthis since 2015.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people and created a serious humanitarian crisis.