(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Yemenis dig through the rubble of a building, reportedly targeted by Shia Houthi rebels yesterday in the Crater district of Aden. The rebels bombarded residential areas, setting fire to several buildings and damaging others.
Aden: Yemeni rebels made new gains in the battleground southern city Aden yesterday as a Saudi-led coalition trying to halt their advance faced growing calls for a humanitarian pause in air strikes.
A senior Houthi member said the rebels were ready to sit down for peace talks as long as a Saudi-led air campaign was halted and the negotiations were overseen by "non-aggressive" parties.
Saleh Al Sammad, who was an adviser to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, also said that Yemenis rejected the return of Hadi, who escaped to Saudi Arabia after Shia Houthi fighters edged closer to his southern base of Aden last month.
"We have no conditions except a halt to the aggression and sitting on the dialogue table within a specific time period ... and any international or regional parties that have no aggressive positions towards the Yemeni people can oversee the dialogue," Sammad said.
The coalition kept up its night-time raids against rebel positions and arms depots, particularly around the capital Sana'a and Saada, the northern stronghold of the Iran-backed rebels.
In the main southern city Aden, the rebels advanced into the central port district of Mualla, capturing the provincial government headquarters, a local official said.
Mualla is defended by "popular committees" militiamen loyal to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who has fled to Saudi Arabia.
The rebels bombarded residential areas, setting fire to several buildings and damaging others, witnesses said.
At least five civilians were killed and 14 wounded in the latest clashes, according to the city's health department director Al-Kheder Lassouar.
Residents said dozens of families had fled their homes in Aden, the heart of which sits on an extinct volcano jutting out into the sea.
The rebels also fired mortar rounds at an Aden television station loyal to Hadi, forcing it off the air.
Pro-Hadi forces also said they retook the rebel-held southern town of Loder in Abyan province yesterday after fierce clashes reportedly killed 24 people, including 21 Shia militiamen.
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