ADEN: Heavy clashes and air strikes in Yemen’s third city Taez left at least 36 fighters dead on Sunday, army sources said, as aid workers struggled to make medical deliveries. The fighting between Saudi-backed pro-government forces and Houthi rebels and their allies killed at least 21 rebels and 15 loyalists, the sources said.

New clashes broke out when loyalist forces tried to take back a presidential palace on a hill overlooking the city’s east.

Loyalists control the centre of Taez, encircled by the Houthi rebels and allied forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The city in central Yemen has been a key battleground as forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi seek to regain ground from the Iran-backed Houthis.

In a statement on Sunday, aid group Doctors Without Borders said essential medical supplies it hoped to deliver to a besieged enclave of the city were being blocked.

“It is very frustrating that, after weeks of negotiations, we have made no progress in convincing officials of the need to provide impartial medical assistance to the victims of the ongoing fighting within this enclave,” Karline Kleijer, MSF’s emergency manager for Yemen, said.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2015

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