Civilians die in Aden shelling
ADEN // Rebel shelling of residential areas in Aden killed at least three civilians yesterday, as airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition also hit Yemen’s southern port city.
Rebels fired Katyusha rockets and mortars at residential areas, destroying four homes, residents and military sources said.
Medics at Aden’s Al Naqib hospital said three civilians were killed and four wounded in the shelling.
Coalition airstrikes hit rebel positions at entrances to the city as well as at the strategic Al Anad Air Base in the nearby city of Lahj, military sources said.
Residents said coalition forces airdropped artillery equipment including mortar batteries to the anti-Houthi fighters over the weekend.
Late on Saturday, clashes between rebels and pro-government forces killed 12 fighters from both sides near the base, the sources said.
In the town of Daleh to the north, 15 rebels were killed in an overnight ambush by pro-government fighters, local military sources said, adding that two of the attackers also died.
The latest violence came after the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, announced on Friday that talks in Geneva between the warring sides ended without agreement.
The rebels – including Shiite Houthi militiamen and troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh – have seized control of large parts of Yemen after taking the capital Sanaa in September.
The Saudi-led Arab coalition has been bombarding Houthi rebels and allied army units since March 26 in a campaign to restore exiled president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi to power.
Mr Hadi, Riyadh’s ally, was pushed aside last year when the Iran-backed Houthis advanced from their northern strongholds.
Loyalist troops have been joined by some Sunni tribes and southern separatists in battling the rebels.
More than 2,600 people have been killed in Yemen since March, according to UN figures, and 80 per cent of the population – 20 million people – are in need of urgent humanitarian aid.
The situation is particularly serious in Aden, where residents complain of food and water shortages, and health officials warn of the spread of disease.