AFP, Aden :
Clashes in Yemen killed at least 66 people in 24 hours, medics and security sources said Sunday, as pro-government forces pushed to oust rebels from a key stretch of coastline. Airstrikes by an Arab-led coalition and fighting near the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait killed at least 52 fighters among Houthi rebels and allied troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the sources said.
Fourteen members of the pro-government forces were also killed. Forces loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi launched a vast offensive on Jan. 7 to retake the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab al-Mandab, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Coalition warplanes and Apache attack helicopters have been pounding rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces advancing toward the Red Sea city of Mokha, military sources said. By Sunday, loyalist forces were within 10 kilometers of Mokha, they said, but the offensive has been slowed by mines laid by rebels.
The rebels took their dead to a military hospital in Hudaida, a major western port city they control, a medical source told AFP. The hospital received 14 dead Saturday and 38 Sunday, as well as 55 wounded rebels, the source said.
Clashes in Yemen killed at least 66 people in 24 hours, medics and security sources said Sunday, as pro-government forces pushed to oust rebels from a key stretch of coastline. Airstrikes by an Arab-led coalition and fighting near the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait killed at least 52 fighters among Houthi rebels and allied troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the sources said.
Fourteen members of the pro-government forces were also killed. Forces loyal to President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi launched a vast offensive on Jan. 7 to retake the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab al-Mandab, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Coalition warplanes and Apache attack helicopters have been pounding rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces advancing toward the Red Sea city of Mokha, military sources said. By Sunday, loyalist forces were within 10 kilometers of Mokha, they said, but the offensive has been slowed by mines laid by rebels.
The rebels took their dead to a military hospital in Hudaida, a major western port city they control, a medical source told AFP. The hospital received 14 dead Saturday and 38 Sunday, as well as 55 wounded rebels, the source said.
