Yemen officials say rebel shelling kills at least 45 in Aden

One of the bases reportedly retaken from the rebels was the Labuza army base in Lahj province, north of Aden, and the other was the headquarters of the 117th armored division in eastern Shabwa province some 230 kilometers (145 miles) away.

Coalition aircraft bombed a rebel reinforcement convoy east of Aden at dawn, killing 25 fighters, a military official said.

Aden has been a focus of fighting since the Iranian-allied Houthis first laid siege to it in March when it was the last bastion to the government which then fled to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi-backed Yemeni troops and fighters have driven Shiite rebels out of two major neighborhoods in the southern port city of Aden, Thursday, prompting street celebrations by residents after weeks of fierce fighting.

A military official at Defense Ministry has denied what have been published on Saudi aggression media about making progress by al-Qaeda elements and foreign invaders in Aden city.

The minister said the rebels had been pushed out of the city, except for “few besieged groups that are refusing to surrender”.

But witnesses said that some Al Houthi fighters remained in control of the city’s Al Tawahi district on Saturday and that heavy fighting was continuing there.

The oil-rich kingdom leads a coalition of Arab countries that has been waging an air campaign against the rebels and renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Southern militiamen of the Popular Resistance launched Operation Golden Arrow against the rebels in Aden on Tuesday.

Some displaced residents of Aden returned to assess the damage to their houses and neighbourhoods. “But huge problems remain – water and electricity cut off often, so we’re still suffering a lot”, he said.

A rebel 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. The attack was supported by Saudi-led airstrikes, militia spokesman Qaed Nasser said.

The United Nations has declared Yemen a level-3 humanitarian emergency, the highest on its scale.

The loyalist offensive came after the failure of a UN-declared truce that was supposed to have taken effect last weekend to allow the delivery of desperately needed relief supplies.

More than 21.1 million people – over 80 percent of Yemen s population – need aid, with 13 million facing food shortages.

Nationwide, the fighting has killed more than 3,200 people since late March.