Aden: Yemeni pro-government forces advancing into the strategic province of Taiz were battling Al Houthi militants on the outskirts of its second largest town on Thursday, military sources said.
Eight Al Houthis and two Yemeni forces soldiers were killed in the fighting for Rahida, the pro-government sources said.
The town lies on the main road from government-held territory towards Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, 40 kilometres further north, where Yemeni forces have been besieged by the militants for months.
Loyalist forces were backed by significant reinforcements from a Saudi-led coalition which intervened in support of President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi in March.
Hadi returned from Saudi exile on Tuesday as the offensive against the Iran-backed Al Houthi militants and their allies got under way.
The coalition carried out at least 10 air strikes against Al Houthi positions in and around Rahida during the night, military sources said.
Breaking the siege of Taiz is seen as crucial for the recapture of other central provinces and opening the way to Al Houthi-held capital Sana’a further north.
It is also important for securing the south, where loyalists have retaken five provinces from the militants since July, including second city Aden, where Hadi has set up base.
Meanwhile Al Yamania News reported that the Saudi-led Arab coalition bombed on Thursday morning one of the bridges that links Taiz to Ibb to prevent Al Houthi reinforcements from reaching their members who are fighting in Taiz.
Sources said by bombing the bridge, the Arab Coalition cut off the main road that links Taiz and Ibb and so prevented reinforcements from reaching the militants.
In Marib, sources said the popular resistance forces and the national army were able to gain control of Al Ashqari mountain adjacent to Haylan Mountain in the north of the province.
