Yemen rebel fire kills civilians as Aden battle rages
Yemen rebel fire kills civilians as Aden battle rages
Published: 11:00 am Jul 20, 2015
ADEN: At least 57 civilians were killed on Sunday when Shiite rebels bombarded Yemen's second city Aden, where Saudi-backed pro-government forces have made gains against the insurgents, a health official said.
On Sunday, fighters from the pro-Hadi Popular Resistance advanced towards the rebel-held district of Al-Tawahi, a military source said.
Warplanes from a Saudi-led Arab coalition have pressed an air campaign launched in March in support of Hadi and against the Huthis and renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Since late Saturday, around 15 air strikes targeted rebel positions in Al-Tawahi and on the northern outskirts of the city where the rebels had brought in reinforcements, military sources and witnesses said. There was also fighting in the Crater district where some rebels remain holed up, according to pro-Hadi fighters. Nine rebels were killed in a raid on Khormaksar neighbourhood, witnesses said.Loyalist forces took the airport shortly after an assault dubbed 'Operation Golden Arrow' began on Tuesday.
- 'There is no life!' -
Some displaced residents have returned to assess the damage to their houses and neighbourhoods. 'There is no life! No hospitals, no electricity, nor water. If it was not for the two wells of the neighbourhood, people would have died of thirst,' said Crater resident Moatez al-Mayssuri. A rebel spokesman dismissed the government's claims on Saturday that it now controlled Aden as 'psychological warfare and an attempt to improve the crushed morale' of loyalist fighters. On Sunday, the spokesman for the Huthis' Ansarullah movement Mohammed Abdulsalam said the rebels had 'regained the lead and repelled several attacks by the mercenaries'.The rebels, meanwhile, also targeted Saudi positions across Yemen's northern border in Najran and Jizan, according to the rebel-controlled Saba news agency which cited a military source.
Elsewhere, firefighters managed to extinguish a huge blaze at a gas depot southwest of Taez in central Yemen after it was shelled by rebels, according to the government-run news agency.
The United Nations has declared Yemen a level-3 humanitarian emergency, the highest on its scale.
After weeks of shuttle diplomacy between the two sides, the UN announced a humanitarian truce last weekend to allow the delivery of desperately needed relief supplies, but the ceasefire failed to take hold.
More than 21.1 million people -- over 80 percent of Yemen's population -- need aid, with 13 million facing food shortages.
Upwards of 3,200 people have been killed in the fighting -- many of them civilians, the UN says.