66 killed in Yemen clashes

A view from the forward deck of the battleship USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) as her 16-inch guns are fired off the starboard side during a deployment off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon.

Aden. — Clashes in Yemen killed at least 66 people in 24 hours, medics and security sources said yesterday, as pro-government forces pushed to oust rebels from a key stretch of coastline. Air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition and fighting near the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait killed at least 52 fighters among Shi’ite Huthi rebels and allied troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the sources said.

Fourteen members of the pro-government forces were also killed.

Forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi launched a vast offensive on January 7 to retake the Dhubab district overlooking the Bab al-Mandab, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Coalition warplanes and Apache attack helicopters have been pounding rebels in support of pro-Hadi forces advancing towards the Red Sea city of Mokha, military sources said.

By yesterday, loyalist forces were within 10km of Mokha, they said, but the offensive has been slowed by mines laid by rebels. The rebels took their dead to a military hospital in Hodeida, a major western port city they control, a medical source told AFP. — AFP.