(VOVworld) – The Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen for more than a year said it will honor a UN-brokered ceasefire starting at midnight GMT on Sunday at the request of President Mansour Hadi, but reserves the right to respond to any rebel attacks.

Yemeni forces launch Scud missile towards Saudi Arabia (Photo: VNA)

On March 23, UN special envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that the conflicting parties agreed to a nationwide cessation of hostilities in advance of the upcoming round of peace talks scheduled for Monday in Kuwait. Previous ceasefires failed to take hold and negotiations collapsed.