SANAA, Yemen — Saudi-led coalition warplanes launched new strikes in Yemen on Thursday despite a demand by rebels for a complete halt to the raids as a condition for UN-sponsored peace talks.
The regional alliance on Tuesday declared an end to the first phase of its operations against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies, but vowed to keep hitting them with targeted bombing when necessary.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meanwhile informed the Security Council that he plans to appoint Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as his new envoy to Yemen.
Cheikh Ahmed replaces Morocco's Jamal Benomar, who resigned last week after losing support from Gulf countries for his mediation efforts.
Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched the air war on March 26 in an attempt to restore the authority of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who was forced to flee abroad last month as the rebels swept across the country.
After the end of Operation Decisive Storm, the coalition said the campaign would enter a phase dubbed Operation Renewal of Hope focusing on resuming political talks, aid deliveries and "fighting terrorism."
"The Huthis should be under no illusion that we will use force in order to stop them taking over Yemen by aggressive actions. So that will not change," Saudi ambassador Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.
The alliance said it had destroyed the rebels' missile and air capabilities, but the Huthis and their allies still control the capital Sanaa and swathes of the country while Hadi remains in self-exile in Riyadh.
Rebels Demand Talks
Pakistani Prime minister Nawaz Sharif headed a powerful delegation, including its army chief and defence minister, Thursday to Saudi Arabia, where they met King Salman and senior Saudi officials.
Pakistan's parliament has rejected Saudi Arabia's request for troops, warplanes and ships to take part in the coalition, favoring a mediating role.
The Shiite rebels on Wednesday called for a complete halt to the air raids so warring parties could return to the negotiating table.
"We demand, after a complete end to the aggression against Yemen and the lifting of the blockade, to resume political dialogue... under the sponsorship of the United Nations," said spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam.
The new overnight raids hit rebel positions near Sanaa, around third city Taez and in the central town of Yarim, according to witnesses.
Residents also reported strikes in the southern province of Lahj and near the main southern city of Aden, where clashes between rebels and fighters loyal to Hadi raged on.
Three raids also hit rebels in the eastern province of Marib, and other strikes targeted a rebel-held air base at the airport in the western city of Hodeida.
Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, political science professor at the University of the Emirates, said the conditions for an effective ceasefire had not yet been met.
"The war is not over," he said, but "there are several attempts to find a political solution."
On Wednesday, the coalition launched new raids on Huthis who overran a major pro-Hadi base in Taez.
Northeast of Sanaa, as well as in Taez, overnight raids targeted positions held by the Huthis and troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
WHO: 1,000 Killed
On Thursday, they targeted Yarim in Ibb province, where warplanes hit an old university building used as a rebel headquarters, residents said.
A newly announced division of the Islamic State jihadist group also claimed a bombing in Yarim on Wednesday that it said had killed five rebels.
In a message on Twitter, the "Green Brigade" said it had struck a Huthi vehicle.
In the southern provinces of Lahj and Daleh, five rebel positions in schools and public buildings were "razed" by air strikes, a pro-Hadi armed committees leader told AFP.
In Aden, warplanes hit rebel positions and clashes raged between pro- and anti-Hadi forces, witnesses said.
The World Health Organization says that at least 1,000 people have been killed in Yemen between March 19 and April 20.
The Red Cross warned of a "catastrophic" humanitarian situation, with fuel supplies at "zero levels" and an acute shortage of food leading to soaring prices.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it has approved funding of $800,000 for the International Medical Corps "to deliver emergency relief" across Yemen.
In Nairobi, meanwhile, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke warned that the Yemen conflict poses dangers across the Gulf of Aden where an influx of refugees is stretching scarce resources and al-Qaida is eager for support.
