Yemeni pro-Hadi forces gain more power in Taiz

Yemeni forces allied to internationally-recognized President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi began consolidating over military and government buildings in regions recently liberated from militia groups in the southwestern province of Taiz, Al Arabiya News Channel reported on Sunday.

Taiz’s mayor Ali al-Muammari said that the Popular Resistance Units started handing out freed buildings to the pro-Hadi army.

The news comes after spokesman for the Saudi-led Arab Coalition Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri announced on Saturday that pro-Hadi forces have claimed control over the interior of the city, vowing that the Iran-backed Houthi militias, who control the capital Sanaa and other areas, would be dislodged.

Since late March last year, the Saudi-led coalition has bombed Iranian-backed Houthi militias and forces allied to deposed leader Ali Abdullah Saleh, in a bid to put Hadi’s government back in power.

Sources also told Al Arabiya News Channel that the coalition forces have launched three consecutive strikes on “terrorists” targets in Al-Mansoura neighborhood in the southern port city of Aden.

Medical and security sources said 19 people - among them 17 from al-Qaeda - were killed in the raids.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday said that he and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir had agreed to work towards a ceasefire in Yemen.