7 pro-government forces killed in eastern Yemen

By Ali Owaida

MARIB, Yemen (AA) – At least seven pro-government forces were killed in clashes with Houthi militants in Yemen’s eastern Shabwah province on Sunday.

Pro-government forces repelled an attack launched by Houthi militants in several positions in Bayhan in western Shabwah, a source in the pro-government forces told Anadolu Agency.

“Seven fighters were killed and others injured in the battles,” he added anonymously due to security concerns.

The source said that scores of Houthi militants were killed in the violence.

The claim, however, could not be independently verified.

Yemen has been racked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.

In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi’s embattled government.

Backed by Saudi-led airstrikes, pro-Hadi forces have since managed to reclaim large swathes of the country’s south -- including provisional capital Aden -- but have failed to retake Sanaa and other strategic areas.

The Yemeni government and Houthi group are currently engaged in UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait in an effort to resolve the conflict, in which more than 6,400 people have been killed and another 2.5 million forced to flee their homes.