GENEVA/SANAA: A fistfight erupted on the sidelines of peace talks in Geneva on Thursday between supporters of different warring factions in Yemen, underlining the divisions that have thwarted United Nations efforts broker a truce in the near three-month conflict.

Some elements interrupted a news conference by Houthi officials, throwing shoes and insulting them as “criminals” and “dogs” who were “killing the children of south Yemen.”

The fighting continued on Thursday, with around 30 killed in clashes between Houthis and tribesmen in the central province of Mareb, tribal sources said, while the capital Sanaa was hit by airstrikes targeting Houthi military sites.

The peace talks are struggling to bring together the rival factions and, with discussions due to conclude on Friday or Saturday, delegates have reported little progress toward the cease-fire the UN has requested.

Khaled Bahah, Yemen’s Vice President, suggested the Houthis would use a cease-fire to expand their reach.

“We are hoping for a permanent humanitarian cease-fire, not a temporary truce. Because a temporary truce is exploited to spread the battlefield and as a tactical measure by some parties,” he told reporters at the Arab league in Cairo.