Houthi fighters in northern Yemen have denied government accusations that they have broken a ceasefire aimed at allowing humanitarian aid into the conflict zone.
Mohammad Abdel-Salam, a spokesman for the Houthi fighters, said on Saturday that the fighting had stopped.
The government is "making up excuses to keep the conflict going", The Associated Press news agency quoted Abdel-Salam as saying.
Earlier, a military spokesman said dozens of people had been killed and wounded in Yemen's Hafr Sufyan and al-Malahid regions of northern Saada province just hours after the ceasefire went into effect. No official confirmation of the toll was available.
Sanaa had announced a unilateral ceasefire in its Scorched Earth offensive against the Houthi fighters on Friday. The move was intended to allow humanitarian aid into a conflict zone that has created thousands of refugees.
Al Jazeera – Yemen Times - Profile: Yemen's Houthi fighters on Al Jazeera – Also see the Zaidiyyah entry in Wikipedia (Houthi are a Zaidi movement)