Roundup: 25 Yemeni Houthi rebels killed in pro-gov't military operation

ADEN, Yemen, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Forces loyal to Yemen's internationally-backed government launched a new military operation against the Houthi rebels in the southwestern province of Taiz early on Saturday, a military official told Xinhua.

The military source said on condition of anonymity that the pro-government forces supported by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition began an operation in a number of mountainous areas located in the western part of Taiz, killing 25 Houthi rebels.

military units of Giants Brigades forces and the 20th Infantry Army Brigade engaged in the anti-Houthi operation that began in the early hours of Saturday, the source said.

He added that three mid-level field commanders of the Houthi group were among the dead rebel fighters.

The Houthi rebels lost control over the key mountain of Maqsab on Taiz's western outskirts following hours of armed confrontations with the pro-government forces, according to the source.

Aseel Saqladi, spokesman of the Giants Brigades forces, told Xinhua by phone that "surprise armed attacks against the Houthis will continue during the next days."

The military spokesman confirmed that the pro-government forces succeeded in "seizing key areas during Saturday's operation which also inflicted heavy casualties on the Houthi rebels in western Taiz."

The center of Taiz is under the control of the government, while the outskirts of the city and areas in the countryside of the province are still witnessing armed confrontations between pro-government forces and the Houthi rebels.

Elsewhere in Yemen, sporadic attacks took place on Saturday between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.

Residents told Xinhua that the two warring sides exchanged sporadic shelling by mortar shells that affected residential areas in the city.

Houthi media outlets reported that warplanes of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition hovered over Hodeidah without launching airstrikes.

According to the Houthi media outlets, forces linked to Saudi-backed Yemeni government intensified attacks against the rebels-held areas in Hodeidah despite the cease-fire brokered by the United Nations.

The warring forces have so far failed to withdraw from Hodeidah and its southern districts in accordance with the UN-sponsored Stockholm Agreement reached last December.

The deal aimed to avert an all-out offensive on the lifeline port city, which is the key entry of Yemen's most commercial imports and international aid.

The Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile and seized much of the country's north, including the capital Sanaa and Hodeidah.

The four-year civil war has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, displaced 3 million others, and pushed the country to the brink of famine. Enditem