Fierce clashes erupted in the Aden's Crater district Wednesday between Shiite Houthi rebels and government loyalists, as mosques througout the southern port city called for jihad, residents told Reuters.
Citizens remained indoors as rockets hit homes and street fighting surrounded civilian areas, according to the residents.
Backed by soldiers loyal to Yemen's former president, Abdullah Ali Saleh, the Houthis pushed into the Crater district Wednesday morning on two armored vehicles and a tank. Meanwhile, loudspeakers from surrounding mosques rang out calls for jihad against the Houthis, witnesses told the news agency.
The old city center of Aden, Crater's battle came on the heels of another series of clashes in the city's northern areas, in which forces backed by Saudi's air coalition and allied with embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansur said they pushed back Houthi forces and cut off vital routes to the city center.
One government-alligned fighter caled Yasser Mahmoud told the news agency the militias he belongs to took on the Houthis in the northern Aden neighborhood of Dar Saad. Clashes there left some 22 Houthi fighters dead, Mahmoud said, as one of their tanks and an armored vehicle were destroyed. Another militairy source, however, said the clashes killed eight Houthi fighters and three loyalists, according to the AFP.
Also in northern Aden, residents reported hearing sounds of three heavy explosions they said came from the two week old Saudi campaign to stunt Houthi advancements against Hadi. They believed the coalition targeted weapons depots there.
The AFP said another coalition strike targeted the Houthi-held al-Anbar air base just north of the southern port city. Up until late last month, the base served as a strategic monitoring post for US operaions agaist al-Qaeda networks in the restive Gulf nation.
