Sanaa, July 11, - (RHC), -- A UN-brokered ceasefire in Yemen has only lasted for a few hours, media reports say.

Air-strikes and fierce fighting broke Yemen’s truce soon after it came into force at midnight local time on Friday, plunging the country back into the violence that has killed more than 3,000 people since March.

Saudi-led air strikes hit the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by Houthi rebels. And bombing pounded Yemen’s third largest city Taiz, in the southwest, where clashes were also reported.

A coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing the Iranian-allied Houthi rebel movement since late March in efforts to restore to power Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The humanitarian truce was meant to help Yemen’s beleaguered civilians – 80 per cent of whom are now in need of aid or protection.