Landmines slow Yemen loyalists’ advance on Taez

ADEN: Landmines planted by Shiite rebels in Yemen have slowed the advance of pro-government forces attempting to recapture the southwestern province of Taez, military officials said Sunday.
Government forces backed by air and ground support from the Saudi-led coalition launched an all-out offensive on Monday to push the Iran-backed rebels out of Taez and break the siege of loyalists in its provincial capital.
“We have advanced after having cleared and destroyed a large quantity of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines planted by the Houthi rebels and their allies” of renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, said a military official.
Troops and allied Popular Resistance fighters had advanced toward Rahida, the province’s second-largest city, on the road linking the main southern city Aden with Taez, the official said.
Four Houthis were killed and two others were wounded in an ambush by loyalists that targeted two rebel patrols south of Rahida, he said.
A Yemeni commander said mines were hampering the progress of government forces, adding that they had caused casualties among fighters, without providing any figures.
Loyalist forces were backed by significant reinforcements from a Saudi-led coalition which intervened in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in March.
Hadi returned from Saudi exile on Tuesday as the offensive against the Houthis and their allies got under way.
Breaking the siege of Taez is seen as crucial for the recapture of other central provinces and opening the way to the rebel-held capital Sanaa farther north.
It is also important for securing the south, where loyalists have retaken five provinces from the rebels since July, including Aden, where Hadi has set up base.
The United Nations says more than 5,700 people have been killed since the Saudi-led intervention began in March, nearly half of them civilians.