Dozens killed as fighting rages on in Aden
At least 43 civilians were killed on Sunday in rebel bombing of Yemen's second city of Aden, where Saudi-backed pro-government forces have advanced against Shia Houthi militia fighters, a health official said.
More than 100 others were wounded in the bombing of the Dar Saad neighbourhood in the north of the port city, according to local health chief Al-Khader Laswar.
The pro-government fighters, backed by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, pushed the rebels out of Aden's airport and two major neighbourhoods last week. The rebels vowed to retaliate, and have intensified their attacks in an attempt to block the advancement of the troops loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Fighting between Houthi militants and pro-government troops has continued to rage, even after Prime Minister Khaled Bahah declared Aden's "liberation" on Friday.
Two ministers of the exiled government returned to Aden this weekend, as pro-government troops fresh from their training in Saudi Arabia stated that most of the city, which has seen the worst violence in the country after the Houthis entered four months ago, was now under their control.
Yet a Houthi spokesman dismissed the government's claims on Saturday that it had seized control of Aden as "psychological warfare and an attempt to improve the crushed morale" of loyalist fighters.
On Sunday, a spokesman of the Houthis' Ansarullah movement said the rebels had "regained the lead and repelled several attacks by the mercenaries".
According to a military source, government loyalist fighters advanced towards the Houthi-held district of Al-Tawahi on Sunday.
The United Nations has declared Yemen a level-3 humanitarian emergency, the highest on its scale.
After weeks of shuttle diplomacy between the two sides, it announced a humanitarian truce last weekend to allow the delivery of desperately needed relief supplies, but the ceasefire failed to take hold.
More than 21.1 million people - over 80 percent of Yemen's population - need aid, with 13 million facing food shortages.
More than 3,200 people have been killed in the fighting - many of them civilians, the UN says.
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