GENEVA — The number of civilian casualties in Yemen rose sharply in December despite a cease-fire called by the warring parties at the start of face-to-face negotiations, according to details released Tuesday by the United Nations, which attributed most of the deaths to airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition.

The assessment came two days after Saudi-led coalition forces said daily attacks by rebel Houthi forces, including rocket assaults targeting Saudi cities and border posts, had prompted them to end the truce declared when the two sides met in Switzerland last month.

At least 81 civilians were killed in the fighting in December, more than double the November figure, said Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and another 109 were reported wounded. At least 62 civilians died in coalition airstrikes, and 11 people were reportedly killed in shelling by Houthi-affiliated forces, he added.

The United Nations said the conflict had been responsible for 8,119 casualties in 2015, including 2,795 dead and 5,324 wounded.

The talks in Switzerland ended after five days with little evidence of tangible results, and the decision by the coalition to abandon the cease-fire does not augur well for efforts to bring the parties back to the negotiating table.

New York Times