Three dozen dead in recent Yemen clashes

MOCHA, Yemen (Kurdistan24) – Nearly 40 people were killed after Houthi fighters and Saudi-backed militias clashed over a strategic port in Yemen, Press TV reported.

The pro-Hadi militia forces, loyal to the resigned President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and Houthi fighters were battling for the control of a key city in the Ta’izz Province.

The violence took place in the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Feb. 8 where at least eight Saudi soldiers were killed.

On Jan.7, Saudi-backed forces launched an offensive to recapture Mocha, a strategic area that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Yemen civil war has led to a violent response from some factions of Yemen’s military.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a Saudi drone was shot down in the northwestern province of Sa’ada.

A military source claimed the drone was collecting valuable information about the movement of Yemeni forces and their allies.

In 2015, Shia rebels, known as Houthis, besieged the Yemeni capital forcing out the internationally recognized government.

The Saudi-led administration began its assault on the rebel group in March 2016, accusing them of being proxies for Iran’s Shia-led government.

The air and ground violence have left over 4,000 civilians dead and nearly 7,000 wounded.

On Oct. 13, 2016, the international human rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Saudi-led coalition of war crimes in Yemen.

The accusation followed a bombing at a funeral home in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa where over 140 people were killed, and 600 left injured.

Editing by Ava Homa