Gen. Ahmed Al-Asseri, said the alliance was committed to the ceasefire but was ready to respond to any violation by the Houthis, according to Al-Riyadh daily.
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The Hadi-run sabanew.net news agency said five loyalist fighters and three civilians were killed in Houthi shelling in the central city of Taiz shortly after the ceasefire began.
The sources said that direct talks between the two sides have been suspended since Wednesday evening, after the Houthis rejected demands to free senior officials, including Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi and Hadi’s brother, Nasser.
Under cover of coalition warplanes and backed by Arab soldiers and heavy weaponry, pro-government fighters have recaptured Aden and four southern provinces since July.
Saudi Arabia’s Border Guard force repeated Friday a warning that residents should stay away from the frontier, as a missile fired from Yemen struck the region of Najran.
Officials speaking to the AP on Friday said the Houthi delegation refused to participate in future talks unless the United Nations condemned breaches of a week-long truce.
The offensive was launched after the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and advanced towards the second city of Aden. The truce came into force on Tuesday and was supposed to hold for a week.
The U.N. has urged all factions in the conflict to end the violence and is pressing to keep the talks going.
The U.N. mediator has sought to keep a lid on communications about the goings-on inside with mixed results.
A member of the government team said discussions with Shiite Huthis should resume on Saturday despite the rebels failure to show for a morning meeting on Friday.
The fatalities include a number of Saudi officers and military personnel, it said. Sabanews cited him as “affirming the continuation of consultative sessions in order to consolidate the ceasefire”.
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Pro-Hadi forces stormed a military base that was controlled by rebels in northern Marib, following clashes that left an unspecified number of casualties on both sides, the sources said. It is also expected that humanitarian assistance will reach Hajja, Sa’ada and other deprived Yemeni cities in the coming days.
