Reports: Yemen airstrike kills 9 amid cease-fire

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

There were signs of fresh violence in Yemen on Thursday, two days into a five-day humanitarian cease-fire.

Nine people were killed after a helicopter gunship belonging to a Saudi Arabia-led coalition launched a strike on a truck in Saada province, in the north, suspected of carrying rebel weapons, the Associated Press reported.

The development comes as Mohammed Albasha, a spokesman for Yemen in Washington, tweeted that there had been an initial agreement among all Yemen's political factions to resume United Nations-brokered talks by the end of May with the aim of resolving the crisis.

On Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to convene talks with the aim of finding a solution, and called on all Yemeni parties to attend.

A five-day cease-fire began late Tuesday to allow aid to reach residents, but a coalition fighter jet launched a strike on a Houthi military convoy the following day, the AP reported.

The Houthis are an Iran-backed rebel group. The Houthis and their allies are loyal to Yemen's ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. They have taken control of the capital Sana'a and advanced south.

The Saudis and their allies, who began the bombing campaign March 26, want President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled the country in March, to be restored.

Albasha on Thursday tweeted that the cease-fire remains intact, and clashes will most likely continue despite the "initial agreement" for holding political talks.