BFF-59 Clashes kill 39 combatants outside Yemen’s Hodeida: medics

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Clashes kill 39 combatants outside Yemen’s Hodeida: medics

AL DURAIHIMI, Yemen, June 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Heavy clashes killed 39
combatants outside Yemen’s rebel-held port city of Hodeida on Thursday, as a
Saudi and UAE-backed offensive to retake the key aid hub entered its second
day.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels suffered 30 fatalities in the fighting,
which took place two kilometres (1.2 miles) from Hodeida airport, south of
the city, medical sources told AFP.

Nine pro-government troops were killed in the same area, the medics said.
Military sources said the deaths were caused by mines and snipers.

An AFP correspondent behind the government lines in Al Duraihimi witnessed
ambulances arriving from the front loaded with dead and wounded.

Saudi-led coalition warplanes and Apache helicopters provided “continuous”
air support to pro-government forces, striking Huthi positions, military
sources said.

The Huthis have put up a fierce resistance, however, using snipers to slow
the assault, the sources added.

The coalition-backed troops have also been slowed by the need for de-mining
operations to advance. The government side sent significant reinforcements to
the front on Thursday, according to military sources and the AFP
correspondent.

BSS/AFP/RY/1730 hrs