ADEN (AFP) - At least 28 Huthi insurgents and 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed Tuesday in the southern province of Shabwa as government forces pushed to capture a rebel enclave, military officials said.



The fighting flared when forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi attacked rebels in Bayhan district, on the border between Shabwa and Marib provinces.



Bayhan is the only part of Shabwa province still controlled by the Iran-backed rebels after government forces supported by the Saudi-led Arab coalition last year expelled them from five southern provinces.



"The death toll of the Huthis has reached 28 while 12 soldiers of the legitimate forces were killed," a military official said.



Military officials said government forces backed by coalition warplanes drove the rebels out of several positions in the area, adding that 14 insurgents were also captured.



The Yemen conflict has killed some 7,000 people since the Saudi-led intervention in March 2015, according to the United Nations.



The coalition began the military campaign against the rebels after they closed in on Hadi in his refuge in the southern city of Aden, forcing him to flee to Riyadh.



The rebels and allied renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh continue to control the capital Sanaa, which they overran in September 2014, along with several mainly northern regions. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least seven militants were killed during a raid by U.S. Special Forces troops against an al Qaeda compound in Yemen on Tuesday morning, the Pentagon said, the deepest the United States has penetrated Yemen to target the group.

Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters in Washington that multiple U.S. troops were injured, but not serious enough to require medical evacuation.

Davis said it was also the first raid in the Marib governorate and an AC-130 gunship was called in after a firefight broke out.

“The intent of this raid was to disrupt AQAP operations,” Davis said, using an acronym for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Local tribesmen confirmed a raid in Marib, which is controlled by forces loyal to the Western-backed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, but said five people were killed and six others were wounded, all from the same extended family.

It was the latest operation by U.S. forces against the Yemen-based AQAP, which has exploited a two-year-old civil war between the Iran-aligned Houthi and Hadi’s Saudi-backed government to enhance its influence in the impoverished country.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement the AQAP militants were killed “through a combination of small-arms fire and precision air strikes” in Marib, with the support of the Yemeni government.

“Raids such as this provide insight into AQAP’s disposition, capabilities and intentions, which will allow us to continue to pursue, disrupt, and degrade AQAP,” the statement said.

Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters separately that the raid was carried out 40-45 km (25-30 miles) north of another U.S. raid that took place in late January.

Two sources in Marib said that the attack began with drone strikes at a house in the southern Marib governorate near the border with the al-Bayda governorate, followed by automatic fire from low-flying helicopters.

They said that five members of their al-Moradi clan, a main tribe in Marib, had died in the operation and six others were wounded, adding that they were all civilians.

Davis said at this point there was no credible indication that there were civilian casualties in the raid.

The operation was the first ground raid in Yemen since the operation in January, which was hailed as a success by the White House and other U.S. officials.

However, critics questioned the value of the mission after a U.S. Navy Seal was killed. Women and children, as well as several militants, were also killed.

The U.S. military has carried out more than 80 strikes in Yemen against al Qaeda militants since February.

The group boasts one of the world’s most feared bomb makers, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, and AQAP has been a persistent concern to the U.S. government since an attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009. </s> Yemeni government forces captured on Monday the port of Mokha as they pushed to oust Houthi rebels from the Red Sea coastline, an AFP journalist said.

Government forces were combing the port, a journalist accompanying the troops said, almost three weeks after the loyalists launched an offensive against the Shiite insurgents and their allies on Yemen’s southwestern coast.

An official statement said government forces recaptured the whole city, but a military commander in the field told AFP that loyalists were still fighting the rebels on the southern outskirts of Mokha.

Forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi launched a vast offensive on Jan. 7 to retake the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Warplanes and Apache attack helicopters from a Saudi-led Arab coalition have been pounding the rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces, military sources said.

The rebel’s media arm claimed, however, that insurgent fighters repelled loyalist troops as they advanced on the village of Jadid, some 10 km (6.2 miles) south of Mokha.

More than 150 fighters from both sides have been killed in the battle for the coastline since the government offensive was launched on Jan. 7.

Houthis have controlled Mokha since they overran the capital Sanaa in September 2014 and advanced on other regions aided by troops loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The coalition mounted a military campaign against the rebels in March 2015 as insurgents closed in on Hadi in his refuge in the southern city of Aden and forced him to seek exile in Riyadh.

Loyalists have since drove rebels out of five southern provinces, including Aden.

But despite its massively superior firepower, the rebels and their allies still control Sanaa and much of the central and northern highlands, as well most of the 450-km (280-mile) Red Sea coast.

United Nations peace envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed visited Sanaa on Sunday for talks and to push a peace plan that would restore a cease-fire and lead to a political transition in the country.

The plan would lead to a political transition under which Hadi’s powers would be significantly reduced.

Seven cease-fires brokered by the United Nations have failed and U.N.-backed peace talks have repeatedly broken down.

The World Health Organization says that more than 7,400 people have been killed since the coalition intervention began.

A U.N. spokesman has said the civilian death toll alone could top 10,000. </s> The Iran-allied Houthis, who are battling the internationally recognized government of Yemen's President Abd Rabbu Mansour al-Hadi, often fire mortars into southern Saudi regions and test Saudi defenses with guerrilla-style incursions.

The attack came hours before the Saudi-led coalition that is supporting Hadi in the war, announced a ceasefire in a bid to end a conflict that has displaced millions of people and caused a humanitarian disaster.

The 48-hour truce is due to start at noon (0900 GMT) on Saturday.

The Houthis were not immediately available to comment on the attack. A news agency controlled by the group said Saudi jets early on Saturday bombed an area of farmland in Yemen's southern Shabwa province.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies intervened in Yemen's war in March 2015 to support Hadi's government. Several dozen Saudi soldiers have been killed in clashes along the long, rugged border with Yemen. </s> ADEN/MARIB, Yemen (Reuters) - At least 10 people were killed and about 100 others were wounded as southern Yemeni separatists fought government troops in the southern city of Aden on Sunday, local medics said, deepening a rift between forces that had been on the same side.

The worst clashes yet between southern separatists, who are allied to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and forces loyal to the Saudi-based government risk crippling their once united war against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen’s north.

The fighting subsided by the evening after Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr ordered a truce and instructed forces loyal to the government to return to barracks, witnesses said.

By evening, some shops were open but the streets were mostly deserted.

Yemen has been torn apart by three years of conflict between the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and the Houthi, and the factional fighting in the south compounds the misery.

The fighting broke out after the expiry of a deadline set last week by separatists from the Southern Transitional Council (STC) for Hadi to dismiss the bin Daghr government, accusing it of corruption and mismanagement. The government denies this.

Gunmen were deployed throughout most of Aden’s districts and there was heavy automatic gunfire and explosions in the southern port city, according to Reuters witnesses.

Armed separatists appeared to gain the upper hand by wresting a key military base in Khor Maksar district in northern Aden and several government buildings from soldiers loyal to Hadi, local newspaper Aden al-Ghad reported on its website.

Residents said that hundreds of pro-Southern demonstrators had gathered in a main square.

Hospitals said at least nine fighters and one woman were killed in the fighting. International medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said 86 wounded people were being treated, including seven people from one family whose car was hit by a shell.

Bin Daghr had earlier denounced the separatists’ actions as a coup and said the outcome of the contest in Aden was in the hands of their backers, the UAE, who enjoy overall control in the city. He said the situation was headed toward “a comprehensive military confrontation ... (which is) a direct gift to the Houthis and Iran”.

“This is a serious matter and the coalition and Arabs as a whole must move to save the situation,” bin Daghr wrote in a message on his Facebook page. “The matter is in their hands and the hope, as we in the government see it, is on the (United Arab) Emirates.”

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said the UAE’s stand was “clear and principled in supporting the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia”.

The STC accused bin Daghr’s government of attacking peaceful protesters and urged Hadi to sack the prime minister and his cabinet.

“The STC holds the bin Daghr government fully responsible after it violated the Arab coalition’s call for calm and used weapons to prevent demonstrators from reaching the parades square,” it said in a statement.

Although Hadi remains in exile in Saudi Arabia, his administration and local allies nominally control about four-fifths of Yemen’s territory, but political and military leaders in Aden now want to revive the former independent state of South Yemen.

A top military adviser to Hadi, Mohammed Ali al-Miqdashi, said any move toward rebellion would render the southerners an enemy.

“There is no difference between the Houthis and anyone else who rebels against the legitimate government, no matter who they are - left, right, south, east,” said Miqdashi, speaking at a remote military base near the central Yemeni city of Marib, late on Saturday. </s> Five militants of the Southern Transitional Council were killed by snipers, while four soldiers died in clashes.

The day before clashed resulted in 12 people dead and over 130 wounded, while supporters of a movement to restore South Yemen's independence from the North reportedly captured several government facilities.

Clashes between former allies — the Saudi-led pro-government forces and militants of the Southern Transitional Council erupted the day after the internationally recognized government hadn't met a deadline for the resignation.

READ MORE: Yemen's Southern Movement: What They Want and Who They Are

Southern rebels initially backed internationally-recognized Yemen President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who fled from advancing Houthi rebels to his hometown of Aden, and alongside the Saudi-led coalition helped push the Houthis away from southern regions.

Hadi, in turn, rejected the ultimatum and banned public gatherings before January 28 — subsequently, clashes erupted. The president has called on the Saudi-led coalition to help and currently facing two fronts — one against the Houthis and a second against the Southern rebels. </s> Government forces have reportedly made gains against Houthi rebels in their stronghold in the northern province of Saada, according to an official army website on Tuesday.

Army forces captured eight military sites in Saada after deadly clashes with Houthi rebels, the “September Net” website said, quoting a military source.

The source said several rebels had been killed and injured in the clashes, but without elaborating.

There was no comment from the Houthi group on the claim.

Saada is the main stronghold of the Shia Houthi group, which overran much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in 2015, forcing the internationally-recognized government to flee to Saudi Arabia.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies -- who accuse the Houthis of serving as an Iranian proxy -- launched a massive military campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains. </s> Al Mukalla: Yemen government forces and allied resistance fighters on Sunday retook control of most areas on the outskirts of Mocha, a key Red Sea port town that is under Al Houthi militant control.

The Iran-backed rebels have received weapons shipments from Iran through this port and liberating it will deliver a major blow to the militants.

Yemeni forces are currently battling the rebels on the edges of the strategic town, army commanders and government officials said.

Al Houthis have suffered heavy setbacks along the country’s western coast since January when the government forces gained control of major regions on the Red Sea, denying the rebel movement from using these areas for smuggling arms into the country.

Yemen army spokesperson, Abdo Majili, told Gulf News on Sunday that government forces stormed a small area called Abu Razeq before advancing further towards Mocha.

“Government forces have cautiously targeted Al Houthi military sites in the town to avoid hitting civilians. This is an inhabitant area and the civilians would be harmed if we bombarded it heavily.”

Mocha has long been famous for its seaport where the country’s internationally-renowned coffee is shipped from.

The government of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi has accused the rebels of using the seaport to ship in their Iran-sourced weapons.

Army commanders expect tough battles inside the town as rebels have infiltrated residential areas, making it harder to easily target them.

For more than two weeks, government forces along with a number of military advisers from the Saudi-led Arab coalition have battled Al Houthis and renegade army units loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

To slow the government forces’ advances, retreating Al Houthi militants have left behind thousands of landmines, army commanders told Gulf News on Saturday.

The militants have endured heavy losses since Operation Golden Arrow was launched two weeks ago, aimed at liberating the entire Taiz province and cutting off Al Houthis’ arms supplies.

Even as the rebels are virtually on their last legs, Al Houthi media claimed that the leader of the militia’s political council, Saleh Al Samad, had recently met with tribal leaders in Mocha securing a pledge from them to help them fight against government forces.

Meanwhile, UN special envoy to Yemen, Esmail Ould Shaikh Ahmad, arrived in the Yemeni capital on Sunday to push for a new round of peace talks between the internationally-recognised government and the rebels.

Ould Shaikh Ahmad is expected to meet with senior leaders in the Al Houthi dispensation as well as Saleh’s party. Last week, he briefly visited the port city of Aden where he suggested a new roadmap to Hadi and his government.

Under the new plan, Hadi would retain his powers as president until Al Houthis fully withdraw from occupied territory and disarm. </s> At least 12 people were killed and scores injured in clashes between government forces and southern separatists in Yemen’s coastal city of Aden, according to the health ministry.

The violence broke out after forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) reportedly seized the government headquarters in Aden on Sunday.

Ministry official Jalal Baoudah said nine people were in a serious condition, according to the official Saba news agency on Monday.

It remains unclear whether civilians were among the victims.

Tension has been running high in Aden since the STC called for sacking the government of Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr. The STC accuses the government of starving Yemenis and pushing the country to the verge of famine.

Aden serves as the temporary seat of the Saudi-backed government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi since Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa, in 2014.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies -- who accuse the Houthis of serving as an Iranian proxy -- launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back the Houthis’ territorial gains.
Government forces push to capture a Houthi enclave in Bayhan District, on the border between Shabwa and Marib provinces, resulting at least 28 Houthi militants and 12 Yemeni soldiers killed.