RIYADH — The vanguards of the Malaysian forces arrived Sunday at Saudi air bases to join Riyadh's military coalition battling Houthi militias in Yemen, the Saudi Press Agency reported. With the move, Malaysia became the 12th country in the Saudi-led coalition after Senegal announced it would send 2,100 soldiers to Saudi Arabia to join the alliance. The Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against Iran-backed Houthi militias and their allies on March 26 after they seized control of large parts of the country and advanced on the main southern city of Aden. Meanwhile, the Houthis reportedly accepted on Sunday a five-day humanitarian ceasefire proposed by Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom had said on Friday that the ceasefire could begin on Tuesday if the Iranian-allied militia agreed to the pause. “We will deal positively with any efforts, calls or serious and positive measures that would help lift the suffering and allow aid, supplies and ships to move safely to Yemen,” the Houthis said in a statement carried by state media Saba. Colonel Sharaf Luqman, spokesperson for the Houthi-allied army, said on Sunday that Yemeni forces had agreed to the truce. Arab planes bombed for a second day in a row the vast compound in the capital Sanaa which is home to ex-president Saleh, a key player in Yemen's political crisis whose loyalists in the army fight on the Houthis' side. The Houthis' acceptance of a truce came as Saudi-led forces conducted airstrikes, fired artillery and launched at least two dozen rockets on Saada province, a Houthi stronghold on Saudi Arabia's southern border with Yemen. Riyadh has urged civilians to evacuate. — With agencies
