The announcement came as Saudi-led warplanes hit the Sanaa residence of ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is accused of orchestrating the alliance between the renegade units and the rebels.
“Following mediation from friendly countries to establish a humanitarian truce… we announce our agreement,” said Colonel Sharaf Luqman, spokesperson for the army defectors.
US-backed ceasefire
Their bases have been a major target of the coalition air campaign that the United Nations says has killed more than 1,400 people, many of them civilians.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir made the ceasefire proposal on Friday with strong backing from Washington which has provided logistical support for its leading Arab ally but not carried out air strikes.
“The ceasefire will end should Huthis or their allies not live up to the agreement – this is a chance for the Huthis to show that they care about their people and they care about the Yemen people,” Jubeir said at a joint news conference in Paris with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Kerry said the ceasefire would take place “provided that the Huthis agree that there will be no bombing, no shooting, no movement of their troops or manoeuvring to reposition for military advantage (and) no movement of heavy weapons”.
He said the pause in hostilities was a “renewable commitment” that, if it held, “opens the door to possibility of an extension”.