Yemen loyalists advance on rebel strongholds

Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out fresh raids on rebel positions in southern Yemen on Thursday as pro-government tribesmen advanced on Shiite Huthi strongholds in the north, tribal and army sources said.

Coalition jets bombed a Huthi rebel gathering on a hill overlooking Taez, from which rebels have been attacking residential neighbourhoods of Yemen's third city, a local government official told AFP.

He said four civilians were killed and six others were wounded in overnight mortar shelling by the rebel forces -- Huthis and renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The warplanes also struck rebel positions in nearby Daleh as well as Al-Anad air base in the southern Lahj province, military sources said.
In main southern city Aden, witnesses reported sporadic fighting on the northern outskirts between rebel militia and forces loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

A rebel leader, Nabil al-Hashidi, was killed after pro-Hadi fighters stormed his hideout in Aden, tribal sources said, accusing him of "spying" for Iran -- seen as a key backer of the Huthis.

In the rebel-held northern province of Jawf, pro-Hadi armed tribesmen seized control of Yatamah, a town on the border with Saudi Arabia, tribal sources said.

The loyalists operation under the cover of coalition air strikes as they later advanced towards a town in the Huthi stronghold province of Saada, the sources said.
These advances come as the pro-Hadi armed forces chief-of-staff, General Mohammed Ali al-Maqdishi, arrived in the Ramlat al-Sabiin area, near the Saudi border, to inspect his troops, according to tribal sources.

The Saudi-led coalition has waged an air campaign against the Huthi rebels since March 26 in an effort to restore the authority of Hadi, who has fled to with members of his government.