Sanaa, Yemen: Saudi-backed Yemeni officials say pro-government forces have retaken the last military base in the country's south that was held by Shiite rebels known as Houthis.
The officials say Friday's capture of Labouza base is the latest victory for the pro-government forces that have been pushing north in the province of Lahj, after routing the rebels from the coastal city of Aden recently.
Labouza lies north of the strategic al-Anad base, which fell to Yemeni troops on Monday. The officials gave no casualty figures for the latest fighting. They spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.
The gains by the pro-government forces have been made possible with the help of a Saudi-led and U.S.-backed coalition that has been targeting the Iran-backed Houthis and their allies since March in an airstrikes campaign.
Saudi soldier killed in shelling
Meanwhile, a Saudi soldier was reportedly killed by shelling from across the Yemeni border on Friday, becoming the third death this week, the official SPA news agency reported.
The National Guard serviceman was killed in the Najran region, in the southwest, said the Saudi-led coalition carrying out air strikes against Al Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Another soldier died from shelling along the border on Wednesday, and a civilian was killed in Najran three days earlier.
The latest cross-border barrages coincide with advances since late July by pro-government fighters who recaptured the southern city of Aden from the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
On Tuesday. they also took back Al-Anad airbase north of Aden, using heavy armour supplied by the coalition after hundreds of Gulf Arab troops landed in the port city to bolster the fightback.
The Saudi soldier brings the number of people killed in shelling and skirmishes along the frontier with Yemen to more than 50 since the coalition campaign began on March 26.
Most of the casualties have been soldiers.
In Yemen, the United Nations says the war has killed nearly 4,000 people, half of them civilians.
