Strikes, clashes kill 28 in Yemen

ADEN: Saudi-led air strikes have killed 28 Huthi rebels around Yemen’s west coast, medics and security sources close to the insurgents said, as government forces reported deadly clashes in the south.

The security sources said air strikes on Thursday and Friday hit five towns controlled by the Huthis around 70 kilometres (45 miles) south of Hodeida. Medical sources said 28 Huthis were killed and 17 wounded in the attacks. Yemeni government forces retook Beihan district in Shabwa province from the Huthis, their last stronghold in the oil-rich southern province, a senior officer said Friday. The capture of Beihan came during clashes that killed 14 rebels and nine pro-government troops, the officer said. There has been no let-up in the air campaign against the rebels that a Saudi-led coalition has been waging since March 2015. The air strikes have intensified since the December 4 killing of ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh at the hands of the Huthis after his alliance with the rebels collapsed. At the same time, forces of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government have stepped up attacks on the rebels and last week retook the Red Sea town of Khokha from the Huthis. The security sources said new clashes broke out on Friday as government forces tried to push towards Hodeida. The UN refugee agency UNHCR said it was “bracing for further displacement and a spike in humanitarian needs as hostilities intensify in frontline areas on Yemen’s west coast”.