Yemen government fighters get new arms

Sanaa - Tanks, artillery, missiles and armoured vehicles were included in the shipment from some Gulf states; Saudi civilian killed in shelling on Yemen border

Pro-government fighters in Yemen have received weapons shipments in the war-torn city of Aden, as rebels scramble to deploy reinforcements, military officials from both sides of the conflict said on Sunday.
Military and port officials in Aden said new heavy and medium weapons and ammunition arrived in Aden in late July by sea to support pro-government army divisions and militias against the Houthi rebels and allied military units.
The officials said tanks, artillery, missiles and armoured vehicles were included in the shipment from some Gulf states.
After months of fierce fighting, pro-government fighters have recently pushed rebels out of Aden and advanced in Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city.
Meanwhile, shelling from Yemen killed a civilian on Sunday across the border in Saudi Arabia, which has been leading air strikes against the rebels in the war-torn country, a civil defence spokesman said.
The civilian died when a projectile hit his house in the Saudi city of Najran before dawn. It had been fired from an area of northern Yemen under the control of Iran-backed Huthi rebels, the spokesman was quoted as saying by official Saudi news agency SPA.
At least 49 people, mostly soldiers, have been killed on the Saudi-Yemeni border since a Saudi-led military coalition launched air strikes on the Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen on March 26.
The military campaign aims to support forces loyal to exiled Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled Yemen to Saudi Arabia in late March as Houthis advanced on the southern city of Aden, threatening to take over the whole country.
Military officials close to the Houthis in the rebel-held capital Sanaa said the rebels are continuously sending military reinforcements south to Aden and Taiz, suggesting major losses.
They said the Houthis are determined to continue fighting in Aden and Taiz, and have demanded that allied tribes send fighters to the two fronts. The Houthis are also actively recruiting new fighters in mosques, the officials said.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to journalists.
The fighting in Yemen pits the Houthis and troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh against southern separatists, local and tribal militias, militants and loyalists of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is now in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens was killed on Sunday when a house inside the kingdom was struck by fire from neighboring Yemen.
A civil defence spokesman, Ali bin Omair Al Shahrani, said in comments to the official Saudi Press Agency that the Saudi was killed in the border town of Najran.

• MENA