Yemen forces 5km from Mokha as rebels suffer heavy losses

Advance comes as suspected US drone strikes killed three alleged Al Qaeda operatives in Yemen’s southwestern Bayda province, in what could be the first strikes of the militant group since Donald Trump was inaugurated as US president.

ADEN // Yemeni military units and popular resistance fighters advanced to within five kilometres of Mokha on Sunday as fighting and coalition air strikes took a heavy toll on rebel forces.

The government forces made gains in Abu Reziq, which is five kilometres from the port city, the Yemeni News Agency reported.

The armed forces media centre said artillery targeted the rebels in areas close to Mokha, while Saudi-led coalition aircraft struck rebel positions in the districts of Mokha, Al Haly and Suez in the city centre.

The campaign to capture Mokha aims to cut off one of the key points for the smuggling of weapons and goods to the rebels on Yemen’s Red Sea coast.

At least 52 Houthi fighters and their allies were killed in coalition air strikes and heavy clashes between rebel and pro-government forces, security sources said on Sunday.

Fourteen members of pro-government forces were also killed, bringing the death toll to at least 66 in 24 hours, they said.

The rebels took their dead to a military hospital in Hodeida, a major western port city they control, a medical source said.

The hospital received 14 dead on Saturday and 38 on Sunday, as well as 55 wounded rebels, the source said.

On the pro-government side, 14 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded, according to medics in the southern port city of Aden where president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi’s government is based.

Coalition warplanes and Apache attack helicopters have been pounding rebels for several days in support of pro-Hadi forces attempting to retake Mokha, military sources said.

Pro-Hadi forces launched the vast offensive on January 7 to retake the region overlooking the Bab Al Mandeb strait, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

However their offensive has been slowed by mines laid by rebel forces.

In Yemen’s southwestern Bayda province, suspected US drone strikes have killed three alleged Al Qaeda operatives, security and tribal officials said.

If true, they will be the first such killings reported in the country since Donald Trump assumed the US presidency Friday.

The Trump administration has not yet laid out a clear policy on drone strikes, but Mr Trump has said that he would support an escalation of the fight against Islamist militant groups.

During the Obama administration, the US has regularly used drones to attack ISIL, Al Qaeda and other militant groups in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries.

The controversial programme has repeatedly killed civilians and has been criticised by human rights groups.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has exploited Yemen’s civil war to carve out a foothold in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country.

* Wam, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press and Reuters