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 In the southern port city of Aden, which has seen nearly three
weeks of fierce street fighting, Houthi fighters withdrew from the
Khor Maksar district, home to an international airport and several
foreign missions.
The pullout deprives the Houthis of a bridge to downtown districts
where they are facing heavy resistance from local fighters.
Saudi Arabia and Sunni Arab allies have been bombing the Houthis to
try and drive them away from Aden, the last major city in Yemen
loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who has fled to Riyadh.
The conflict in Yemen is widely regarded as a sectarian proxy war
between predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran. Riyadh
says it is protecting Hadi and his government in exile from the
Houthis, but as the world' largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia is
also unhappy at the prospect of protracted upheaval in its southern
neighbor.
Hadi and his Saudi backers also face fierce opposition from soldiers
loyal to former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, a shrewd
political operator who has teamed up with his old foes the Houthis.
Al Qaeda, which has staged suicide bombings against the Houthis,
also poses a threat to Yemen's stability. Nearby shipping lanes and
the narrow Bab el-Mandeb passage, through which nearly 4 million
barrels of oil are shipped daily to Europe, the United States and
Asia, could also be at risk from the fighting.
SOUTHERNERS MAKE GAINS, SUPPLIES LOW
Southern militia sources said they wrested control of an infantry
base loyal to the Houthis after heavy fighting on Monday night near
the Balhaf liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in southern Shabwa
province on the Arabian Sea.
Yemen LNG, the company managing the facility, said it had halted
production due to insecurity and began evacuating its staff, while
militia sources said they had moved into the port to secure it from
looting.
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In the southern province of Dhalea, militiamen said their fighters
had killed around 40 Houthis and allied soldiers over the past day,
although this could not be independently confirmed.
In the southern town of Houta in the province of Lahej southern
fighters said they attacked a Houthi tank with rocket propelled
grenades and machine guns on Monday night, killing around 15 rebels.
Weeks of street battles have left parts of once thriving Aden in
ruins and led to shortages of water, food and electricity.
But armed townspeople say they have laid siege to pockets of Houthi
and army fighters loyal to Saleh, forcing them to surrender in the
dozens after running out of supplies.
Mosque loudspeakers blared appeals for the fighters to turn
themselves in.
"We won't rest until we've ejected them from all our areas and
neighborhoods," one fighter in Khor Maksar told Reuters.
(Reporting By Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Noah Browning; Editing
by Michael Georgy)
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