Foreign troops arrive at Aden port in southern Yemen: official

Dozens of well-trained foreign troops arrived Thursday in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, where fierce street fighting is taking place between gunmen of the Shiite Houthi group and tribal militia allied with Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

"Scores of well-trained troops from various nationalities have just landed at the port apparently to confront the pro-Houthi forces on the ground," an official at Aden port told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The official did not elaborate on the nationalities of the foreign troops, but said they may participate in the fighting with Hadi's forces against the Houthis to regain full control over Aden.

At the same time, hundreds of Houthi gunmen, backed by security forces, engaged in fierce fighting with tribal militia in Aden's district of Cirater.

Local residents told Xinhua that "a number of houses were bombarded by tanks shells, causing casualties among civilians."

About 13 civilians were killed during the random shelling and gunfire in Aden on Thursday, a medical official at Gomhouria hospital told Xinhua.

Security sharply deteriorated in Yemen since early March when conflict erupted in several provinces in the country's southern regions.

The Shiite Houthi group launched attacks on Aden city, which President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi declared as the temporary capital after he fled weeks of house arrest by the Houthis in Sanaa.

Last Thursday, a Saudi-led coalition started airstrikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa and other cities, saying the multinational action was to protect Hadi's legitimacy and force the Houthis to retreat from cities it seized since September 2014. Endit