Heavy fighting leaves 43 dead in Yemen

The clashes erupted ahead of UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva next week aimed at ending the conflict.

By (Reuters)

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Published: Fri 12 Jun 2015, 1:10 AM

Last updated: Wed 8 Jul 2015, 3:08 PM

Aden — At least 43 people were killed in heavy fighting in Yemen overnight and on Wednesday between supporters of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the country’s dominant Houthi group, residents, tribal and medical sources said.

The clashes erupted ahead of UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva next week aimed at ending the conflict.

Residents and fighters said fighters opposed to the Houthis advanced from a district of Aden known as ‘workers’ island’ towards the port city’s Houthi-held international airport. They said five local fighters and 11 Houthis had died in clashes.

Eight fighters from an anti-Houthi force called the Southern Resistance were also wounded in the clashes, they said.

Residents said warplanes from a Saudi-led coalition flew sorties overnight against Houthi outposts in the Bir Ahmed area north of Aden, killing 12 members of the Zaydi group.

Saudi-led air strikes on Houthi fighters in the oil-producing Marib province also killed 10 Houthis, tribal sources said. Separately, in the central city of Taiz, medical sources said five civilians had been killed when they were caught in the middle of fighting between the Houthis and local resistance fighters aligned with Hadi.

Representatives of Hadi’s government are scheduled to begin talks in Geneva with representatives of the Houthi group and Saleh’s General People’s Congress party on Sunday, amid reports of disagreements about the agenda.

Mohammed Abdel-Salam, spokesman for the Houthi group, said late on Tuesday that their representation at the conference was still under discussion and had yet to be finalised. — Reuters


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