YEMEN-SECURITY/TAIZ Clashes erupt in Taiz

Record ID: 146394

  • Title: YEMEN-SECURITY/TAIZ Clashes erupt in Taiz
  • Date: 18th July 2015
  • Summary: TAIZ, YEMEN (JULY 18, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MILITIAMEN LOYAL TO EXILED PRESIDENT ABD-RABBU MANSOUR HADI FIRING WEAPONS (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) PRO-HADI MILITIAMAN SAYING: "We will sacrifice with our blood for the sake of Taiz and for the sake of everything that we own so we can liberate it from these tyrants and dictators that came to our land to colonize it. And our mess
  • Embargoed: 2nd August 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4TV5MPTHG47Z38MS3BNCC6SA5
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: QUALITY AS INCOMING
    Heavy clashes took place on Saturday (July 18) on the streets of Yemen's third largest city Taiz between Saudi-backed fighters and Iran-backed Houthis.
    The clashes came as anti-Houthi forces advance in Yemen amid heavy Arab air strikes.
    On Friday (July 17), Yemen's government in exile declared the key southern city of Aden "liberated," in their biggest victory yet in a Saudi-led air campaign and civil war that has raged almost four months and killed more than 3,500 people.
    "We will sacrifice with our blood for the sake of Taiz and for the sake of everything that we own so we can liberate it from these tyrants and dictators that came to our land to colonize it. And our message to them is that we remain steadfast," said one fighter.
    Overnight Saudi-backed Yemeni forces backed up by air strikes seized the Labuza army base in Lahj province north of the port city and the headquarters of the 117th armoured division in eastern Shabwa province some 230 km. (145 miles) away.
    The war in Yemen has pitted the Sunni Muslim Gulf states, which support the exiled government, against the Shi'ite Houthis allied to Iran, in a conflict that has further raised the stakes as the Middles East grapples with regional rivalries and sectarian strife.
    But power struggles have simmered for years in the impoverished and conflict-wracked country, and fighters in Yemen's south - the setting for most of the recent battles - have long sought independence from the North, the Houthis' home.
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