Fighting escalates in Yemen's Aden as warring rivals exchange heavy shelling

ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing fighting between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and troops loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) escalated on Monday.

Residents in Aden's district of KhorMaksar told Xinhua by phone that the two-warring rivals exchanged heavy artillery shelling, causing panic among civilians.

The residents said that the Presidential Guard camps fired first a barrage of artillery shells and targeted military locations allied with the STC in Aden.

According to the residents the 39th Armored Brigade loyal to the Saudi-backed government involved in the shelling and deployed its soldiers on the streets, sparking ferocious street fighting with the STC forces.

A government official told Xinhua saying that Aden witnessed "a lull before the storm due to the ongoing mediation efforts between the two warring rivals."

"Apparently the mediation failed to stop the escalation and heavy armed reinforcements arrived from outside Aden," the government source said.

Earlier in the day, sporadic fighting took place between the two-warring sides in Aden, leaving about ten people killed and 20 others injured, according to medical sources.

The fighting erupted on Sunday after Yemen's Interior Ministry issued orders to ban demonstrations organized by the STC loyalists to overthrow the Aden-based government.

The government forces deployed in Aden and blocked several main roads in addition to using live ammunition to prevent hundreds of protestors from reaching the Public Square in khorMaksar district.

The armed forces loyal to the STC intervened and engaged in armed confrontations with the government forces, leading to seizing key the government's headquarters.

Sunday's deadly fighting resulted in the killing of 20 people and injuring more than 145 others, according to the country's Health Ministry. Nine of the injuries are in a critical condition.

The southern port city of Aden is considered as Yemen's temporary capital and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government based itself there since 2015.

Yemen's government, allied with the Saudi-led Arab military coalition, has for about three years been battling Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels over control of the country.

The coalition began a military air campaign in March 2015 to roll back Houthi gains and reinstate exiled President Hadi and his government to the power.

The coalition also imposed air and sea blockade to prevent weapons from reaching Houthis, who had invaded the capital Sanaa militarily and seized most of the northern Yemeni provinces.

UN statistics show more than 10,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since the coalition intervened in the Yemeni civil war that also displaced around 3 million.

The Arab country is also suffering from the world's largest cholera epidemic since April, with about 5,000 cases reported everyday. Enditem