28 killed amid ongoing Yemen violence

SANAA, Yemen

At least 28 people, including 23 fighters, were killed on Saturday during clashes between the Shiite Houthi militant group and loyalists to embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province, tribal sources said.

According to tribal and medical sources, at least 23 Houthi fighters, two others were killed and 57 people, including 38 Houthis were injured.

Separately, three Emirati soldiers belonging to the forces of the Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia were also killed in Yemen, another security source said.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency that the three soldiers were killed in a bomb attack perpetrated by Houthi fighters in southern Abyan province.

Yemen descended into chaos last September, when Houthi militiamen overran capital Sanaa. In April, the Houthis also managed to capture Yemen’s southern Aden province, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi -- along with most of his government -- to flee to Saudi Arabia.

Recent weeks, however, have seen pro-Hadi forces -- backed up by Saudi-led air power -- retake most of the coastal province, allowing for the return of several Yemeni government officials from Riyadh.

President Hadi himself, however, has yet to return to the war-torn country.

Nearly 2,000 Yemeni civilians have been killed to date in the fighting between Houthi militiamen and pro-Hadi forces, the U.N. announced on August 4.