Coalition air strikes kill 16 rebels in Yemen

Strikes support government bid to retake western coastal province of Hodeidah.

Aden // Sixteen rebels were killed and 24 wounded in 24 hours of air raids by the Saudi-led coalition targeting the insurgents in Yemen.

The Houthi rebels were killed in air strikes on an airbase and arms depot in the east of the rebel-held Hodeidah province since Friday, a military official said.

A source in the Arab coalition, which includes the UAE, said Hodeidah was one of the areas being targeted since Friday as part of continuing military operations on areas under rebel control.

The dead and wounded rebels killed in the latest clashes were transferred to Al Alfi military hospital and Al Thawra hospital in the Houthi-controlled city of Hodeidah, medics at the hospitals said.

Sunday marks two years since the coalition intervened in the conflict to restore Yemen’s internationally-recognised government of Abdrabu Mansur Hadi after it was driven from the capital Sanaa by the Iran-backed rebels.

The coalition has also targeted extremist groups in southern Yemen seeking to capitalise on the instability, such as Al Qaeda and ISIL.

Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said on Saturday the coalition’s push to defeat Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had been bolstered by a “reinvigorated US commitment” to taking on the militants in Yemen.

“AQAP is on the back foot; degraded, pressured & on the run,” Dr Gargash tweeted.

* Agence France-Presse