Tank battle rocks ‘ coup- hit’ Aden
Aden, Jan 29: At least nine people were killed in heavy fighting between separatists and government troops Monday as a tank battle broke out on the second day of an attempted “coup” in Yemen’s interim capital Aden, military sources said.
As the fighting escalated, the Saudi- led military coalition which supports the government called for dialogue and for it to hear the demands of the separatists in the southern port city.
“We are calling on the legitimate government to look into the demands of the political and social movement,” said coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al- Maliki.
He urged “restraint” from the separatists who are backed by the United Arab Emirates ( UAE), an ally in the coalition, and for them to “hold talks with the legitimate government”. Civilians were hunkered down at home as five separatist fighters were killed by snipers and four soldiers died in clashes, military sources said, with tanks and heavy artillery entering the fray.
The clashes came after separatist forces seized government buildings in what Yamen’s prime minister called an attempted coup. Aden has served as the headquarters of Saudibacked President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s government since it was forced out of the capital Sanaa by Shiite rebels three years ago. The separatists — who want the return of the independent South Yemen that existed before 1990 — supported Hadi’s forces against the rebels, but tensions between them have risen in recent months. Fighters from both sides have been deployed in most areas of Aden.