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Coalition fighters capture coastal area in Yemen

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DUBAI: A Western-backed Saudi-led coalition scored its first major gains in Yemen since former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed on Monday when local fighters captured an area on the Red Sea coast from Ansar Allah fighters, residents said on Thursday.


Local fighters loyal to Saleh, who was killed by the Ansar Allah fighters after switching sides in the civil war, captured Al Khoukha district about 350 km south-west of the capital Sanaa after heavy fighting over Wednesday night which also involved coalition forces.


Ansar Allah forces control Sanaa and much of the rest of the impoverished country, where three years of war has killed more than 10,000 people and brought it to the verge of famine.


Saleh had helped the Ansar Allah win control of Sanaa and much of the north and his decision to abandon them had major implications on the battlefield.


The Ansar Allah crushed a pro-Saleh uprising in the capital and shot him dead in an attack on his convoy on December 4.


The US and UK-backed Saudi-led coalition has stepped up air strikes on Yemen since then as Ansar Allah forces have tightened their grip on the capital.


Residents said Saleh’s killing spurred opposition to the Ansar Allah and fighters known as the Southern Resistance, together with other local militia, launched attacks on Al Khoukha on Wednesday.


At least 25 people from both sides were killed in the fighting before Yemeni fighters captured the town of Al Khoukha and a small fishing port.


A spokesman for the Ansar Allah movement could not be immediately reached for comment.


The Ansar Allah-run Saba news agency has reported heavy air strikes by the coalition on Sanaa and in the Saada province in northern Yemen, but made no mention of any ground offensive in Al Khoukha area.


— Reuters


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