Anti-Houthi
forces advance in Yemen amid heavy Arab air strikes
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[July 18, 2015]
ADEN/SANAA (Reuters) - Local
fighters and army forces in Yemen have wrested two military bases from
Houthi forces overnight, residents and officials said, building on a
week of gains against the country's dominant faction.
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The advances come a day after Yemen's government in exile declared
the key southern city of Aden "liberated," in their biggest victory
yet in a Saudi-led air campaign and civil war that has raged almost
four months and killed more than 3,500 people.
Saudi-backed Yemeni forces backed up by air strikes seized the
Labuza army base in Lahj province north of the port city and the
headquarters of the 117th armored division in eastern Shabwa
province some 230km (145 miles) away.
Officials in the anti-Houthi forces say the offensive was planned
for weeks and benefited from training and arms deliveries from Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The war in Yemen has pitted the Sunni Muslim Gulf states, which
support the exiled government, against the Shi'ite Houthis allied to
Iran, in a conflict that has further raised the stakes as the
Middles East grapples with regional rivalries and sectarian strife.
But power struggles have simmered for years in the impoverished and
conflict-wracked country, and fighters in Yemen's south -- the
setting for most of the recent battles -- have long sought
independence from the North, the Houthis' home.
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Residents said Houthi forces and their allies in Yemen's army made
an attempt to regroup and take back northern fringes of Aden on
Friday, firing rockets at the Khor Maksar district.
Their push was repelled, anti-Houthi fighters said, and an offensive
backed by air strikes is underway to take Anad air base, one of
Yemen's largest, 60 km (40 miles) north of Aden.
(Writing by Noah Browning, editing by Louise Heavens)
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