SANAA // Fighters backing Yemen’s exiled government have retaken the southern city of Dalea – the gateway to the port of Aden – in their first significant victory since a Saudi-led coalition began targeting Shiite rebels in airstrikes.
Dalea is a significant gain as it is home to the command centre of the 33rd Armored Brigade, the country’s largest army unit that had been loyal to former Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh. Mr Saleh has backed the Houthi rebels in their campaign across Yemen that began in September.
“The whole city of Dalea is now under the control of the Popular Resistance Committees,” an umbrella group of southern factions, local chief Saleh Al Mansub said.
Government-allied fighters seized tanks, rocket launchers and ammunition caches from the base at Dalea, some 120 kilometres from Aden, said the officials.
Footage from Dalea aired on the Saudi-funded Al Arabiya satellite news network showed fighters in an armoured vehicle flying the flag of once-independent South Yemen. The fighters, though allied with exiled president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, also want an independent southern state in the country, which was only unified in 1990.
Mr Hadi took refuge in Aden after he escaped house arrest under the Houthis in Sanaa in February, but he fled to Riyadh after rebels started closing in on the southern port. Dozens of fighters on both sides have been killed in intense clashes around Dalea in the past two weeks.
Fighting between the two sides continued on the city’s outskirts on Tuesday.
The Saudi-led coalition, which includes the UAE, began targeting the Houthis and their allies on March 26.
The United Nations estimates that at least 1,037 civilians – including 130 women and 234 children – have been killed between in fighting since the start of the campaign and May 20.
Mr Hadi’s government in exile has declared several provinces of Yemen disaster zones, including Dalea, where all basic services have collapsed.
Due to the violence and a Saudi-led sea-and-air blockade, most Yemenis face severe shortages of fuel, water, food and medicine.
The coalition carried out airstrikes on Tuesday in at least five cities, including the capital of Sanaa, and the rebel strronghold of Aden.
Clashes continued between rebels and local fighters on the northern outskirts of Aden, witnesses said.
Coalition warplanes also struck Houthi positions on Mount Sabr in the central province of Taez, and in the northwestern province of Hajja on Tuesday, witnesses said.
Residents of the Al Mohssam village in Hajja, said two children and five men and women from the same family were killed in the overnight raid on their home.
Meanwhile, the Saudi interior ministry said fighting along the kingdom’s border with Yemen near Asir killed one Saudi soldier and wounded three on Monday.
As fighting continued, hopes dwindled for a political resolution to end the war.
Peace efforts also received a major blow this week after UN-sponsored negotiations due to take place in Geneva were indefinitely postponed.
In a limited cabinet reshuffle, Mr Hadi appointed a former lawmaker, Brigadier General Abdu Al Houzifi, as a new interior minister to replace one who sided with the Houthis.
* Associated Press, Associated Press and Reuters
