Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen are on hold Monday at the start of a five-day humanitarian truce, although intense ground fighting continues in some areas after Houthi rebels rejected the cease-fire.

Rebel attacks were reported Monday in parts of the south of the country.

The coalition that has been fighting the Iranian-allied Houthi Shi’ite rebels with air attacks for the past four months declared the temporary truce to allow badly needed emergency supplies into Yemen.

On Sunday, Houthi chief Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said a cease-fire would only benefit Islamic State and al-Qaida militants. “The battle goes on and the war is not over,” al-Houthi was quoted as saying on his group’s Twitter account.

Houthi forces held up 16 trucks filled with humanitarian aid from the World Food Program intended for displaced people in the major city of Taiz.

The fighting in Yemen has left more than 3,500 people dead since March in the Arab world’s poorest country and forced Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.  The United Nations says half of those killed are civilians.
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