Yemen airstrikes resume; 15 allied fighters killed
The Saudi-led coalition launched new airstrikes in at least
two Yemeni provinces Monday, piercing a humanitarian pause that started at
midnight Sunday, security officials and witnesses said.
Security officials and field commanders of forces allied
with the coalition said 15 of their fighters were killed in two separate
coalition airstrikes in the province of Lahj, reports AP.
The accidental strikes against
allied forces wounded more than 40 fighters, they say, adding that the death
toll is expected to rise.
The deadly strikes happened near the strategic military base
of al-Anad, which is held by the rebels and was also hit by coalition planes
Monday. The coalition also struck north of the port city of Aden.
Airstrikes had been halted for hours but ground fighting
erupted in multiple provinces within minutes of the start of the unilateral
cease-fire late Sunday.
Fierce clashes also broke out in the nearby town of Sabr,
which is on a key supply route. Officials aligned with pro-government fighters
say they have regained control of the center of the town and were trying to
advance into northern neighborhoods. Witnesses who fled Sabr Monday morning say
corpses of fighters lay in the street next to destroyed military vehicles.
Officials and witnesses said there were sporadic clashes in
Yemen's central Marib province. In Taiz, mortar shells fired in the center of
the city killed four civilians, security and medical officials said.
Anti-aircraft gunfire was heard in the rebel-held capital,
Sanaa, as coalition planes buzzed overhead.
The humanitarian pause was intended to help allow
humanitarian aid to be delivered to ease the suffering of civilians in the Arab
world's poorest country.
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