02 July 2016•Update: 08 July 2016
By Ali Owaida
MARIB, Yemen
At least 10 people have been killed in clashes between government forces and Houthi militants to the east of Yemen’s capital Sanaa, a government source said Saturday.
“Seven Houthi militants were killed in clashes late Friday in Nahm district, east of Sanaa,” a source with the pro-government forces, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
He said three pro-government troops were killed in the fighting.
The Houthi-run Yemen News Agency said the violence erupted when Houthi forces repulsed an attempt by pro-government forces to advance to Yam Mount, east of Nahm district.
Yemen has been racked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran 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.
This April, the Yemeni government and the Houthis entered into UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait aimed at resolving the conflict, in which, according to UN figures, more than 6,400 people have been killed and another 2.5 million forced to flee their homes.
* Anadolu Agency Correspondent Ali Abo Rezeg contributed to this report from Ankara.
