In Yemen today, hours after Riyadh announced a halt to the four-week air campaign, as rebels seized a key loyalist base in the third city Taez. The Saudi-led coalition had warned it stood ready to counter against any advance by the rebels and their allies even after it ended Operation Decisive Storm from midnight on Wednesday. Ground fighting between the rebels and forces loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi raged on in a string of battleground towns, including the second city of Aden as well as Taez, in a blow to US-led calls for renewed peace talks.
In Taez, the rebels took advantage of the lull in air strikes to overrun the headquarters of the 35th Armoured Brigade, loyal to Hadi, which they had besieged for nearly a week, an army officer said. The Saudi-led coalition hit back with air strikes against rebel positions inside the captured camp and elsewhere in the city.The fighting left “dozens dead and wounded”, the officer told AFP. The World Health Organization says at least 944 people have been killed in Yemen since March 19 and there were calls from all sides for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid.