Aden (AFP) March, 13, 2016 – At least 17 suspected militants and two policemen have been killed in two days of clashes in Aden, the temporary base of Yemen’s government, security sources said.
The clashes, which resumed early Sunday, came as loyalist forces pressed an offensive to retake third city Taez in the southwest of Yemen which has been under siege for months by Huthi rebels.
The fighting in Aden raged in the jihadist stronghold of Mansura, a residential area which loyalist forces backed by aircraft from a Saudi-led coalition have been trying to recapture since Saturday.
Coalition fighter jets and Apache helicopters carried out air strikes overnight that hit at least three vehicles and a local council office occupied by the jihadists, security sources said.
Meanwhile, pro-government forces clashed with Huthi rebels Sunday as they tried to break a siege of Taez after retaking the city’s southern and western suburbs on Friday, loyalist military sources said.
Coalition aircraft provided support and hit a military convoy that was trying to bring reinforcements to the rebels, the sources said.
At least 94 people have been killed in the offensive since Friday, including 24 rebels, nine loyalist forces and four civilians, the sources added.
Officials are hoping to break the siege in order to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to the nearly 200,000 residents trapped in Taez.