Fighters Battle Houthis in Yemen`s Southern City of Aden
19 October 2018 14:52 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Aden - Heavy fighting erupted in southern Yemen near Aden airport on Friday when local militia attacked Shi'ite Houthi rebels in a push to drive them from the district, residents and fighters said.
Saudi-led forces also made four air strikes on a military base near the airport, a source in the southern militia told Reuters.
A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes in Yemen on March 26 in a campaign to restore Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power. He fled in March, after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa in September and then thrust into central and south Yemen.
Aden is Yemen's commercial hub. Its airport has been closed since fighting began but its port provides sporadic access for desperately needed humanitarian aid to enter the country.
Houthis and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh are concentrated around Aden's districts of Khor Maksar, Crater and Moalla.
The fighting in Khor Maksar has killed four southern militia fighters and 15 Houthis so far, the militia source said.
REUTERS
