Aden // Forces loyal to Yemen’s exiled government captured a third southern provincial capital on Sunday as they continued their advance against Houthi rebels and their allies.
Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, had been held by troops of the renegade 15th Brigade, which remains loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who is allied with the rebels.
Pro-government troops entered the coastal town, about 50 kilometres east of Aden, after overrunning the brigade’s barracks outside with support from Saudi-led air strikes.
The recapture of Zinjibar is expected to strengthen the position of forces loyal to President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi as they expand their zone of control in southern Yemen and could pave the way for an attempt to pursue rebels further north. The loyalists secured Aden in mid-July and Huta, the capital of Lahj province, on August 4.
At least 19 people were killed and 163 wounded on Saturday and Sunday in Zinjibar and surrounding areas, the health chief for Aden, Al Khader Laswar, said. Many, including loyalist fighters, were killed by mines planted by the rebels before they withdrew from the city.
Mines and unexploded ordnance have caused similarly high death tolls in Aden since the rebels pulled out last month, with dozens of civilians reported killed and hundreds wounded.
Aden was the last refuge of Mr Hadi before he fled into exile in neighbouring Saudi Arabia in March.
Riyadh has since led a regional coalition in a bombing campaign and air and sea blockade against the Iran-backed Houthis in a bid to restore his authority. It has also provided training and equipment to loyalist forces, including tanks, armoured vehicles and personnel carriers.
Security officials and pro-government fighters said on Sunday that at least 20 fighters were killed in a friendly fire incident during the battle for Zinjibar.
The fighters were killed in a coalition air strike late on Saturday as they travelled along a coastal road towards the city, they said.
The Houthis still control the capital, Sanaa, which they seized last year, and larges swathes of the country including the remote north where their mountainous stronghold of Saada is located.
On Sunday the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited the Old City of Sanaa, a Unesco World Heritage Site, where many of its ancient storeyed houses were damaged in fighting
After touring damaged buildings and a hospital, Peter Maurer said he had come to Yemen for a “view on the impact of the recent warfare”.
“It’s an illustration of just one element of how people are affected by the warfare,” said Mr Maurer, who was on the second day of a three-day visit to Yemen.
The ICRC has said he would hold talks with top officials, without identifying them, during his visit.
The United Nations says nearly 4,000 people have been killed since March, half of them civilians, while 80 per cent of Yemen’s 21 million people are in need of aid and protection.
The ICRC says 1.3 million Yemenis have been displaced by the conflict.
* Agence France-Presse with additional reporting from Associated Press
