Houthi militants unleash counter-offensive against pro-gov't Yemeni forces

ADEN, Yemen, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Militants loyal to the Shiite Houthi group unleashed a major counter-offensive on Sunday to foil a Saudi-backed military campaign near Yemen's southern province of Lahj, following a significant advance of the government forces in a number of areas.

According to local military sources, the counter-offensive against troops allied with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government in Rahidah area, located between Lahj and Taiz provinces, killed at least 10 soldiers and injured several others.

One of the army commanders told Xinhua by phone that hundreds of landmines were planted by Houthis across the main roads leading to the neighboring Taiz province, which is still besieged by the pro-Houthi forces.

The army commander said that some of the soldiers were killed in shooting incidents conducted by Houthi snipers, who were deployed on key hilltops of Taiz's suburbs.

Meanwhile, government forces backed by fighter jets of the Saudi-led coalition made significant progress and seized control of a number of mountainous areas in the northern province of Sa'ada, the Houthis' main bastion, according to the Defence Ministry.

Heavy artillery shelling also targeted Houthi-controlled military sites in Sa'ada province, causing casualties among the rebels.

Houthi officials could not be reached for comment about the ongoing armed confrontations in their main stronghold.

Yemen's internationally-backed 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 Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government to 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 impoverished Arab country is also suffering the world's largest cholera epidemic since April 2017, with about 5,000 cases reported every day. Enditem