Yemen’s violent conflict has intensified in the run up to a five-day ceasefire scheduled to start on Tuesday as aid experts warn that the war-ravaged country is close to a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

The Saudi-led coalition, which launched an aerial bombing campaign in March to dislodge Houthi rebels who had seized control of the capital, struck the northern city of Saada at the weekend after proposing the ceasefire. Reports also emerged that Saudi warplanes had bombed the Sana’a home of the Houthis’ ally, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who later spoke to news channels outside the damaged building.

In spite of the renewed strikes on the Houthis’ heartland, the group said it would accept “any truce that will service the nation’s welfare”.