Rebels mount resistance in port city

ADEN: Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by progovernment forces, military and health officials said Thursday.

Deadly clashes have shaken Mokha since loyalist fighters launched an offensive nearly three weeks ago to oust the rebels and their allies from Yemen’s southwestern coast.

Fresh fighting has left 20 rebels and seven pro-government fighters dead over the past 24 hours, with dozens more wounded, a hospital official said.

The forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi are supported by coalition aircraft that have attacked a military camp and a rebel convoy in the past 24 hours, the military official said.

Nearly 230 rebel and loyalist fighters have been killed since Hadi’s forces launched a vast offensive on January 7 to drive the rebels, from Yemen’s southwestern coast.

Pro-government forces have succeeded in recapturing the Dhubab district north of the Bab al Mandab strait, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Loyalist forces said Monday they had also captured the port in Mokha, but rebels are still holed up inside the city. The World Health Organization says more than 7,400 people have been killed since the coalition launched its intervention in support of Hadi in March 2015. — AFP