(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Rebel forces and loyalist fighters were locked in fierce fighting in Yemen yesterday as hopes of a political solution faded after the United Nations postponed peace talks.
Clashes raged in the country's third city Taez, sowing panic after Shia Houthi rebels bombarded several districts with rocket and tank fire.
"There's a real massacre going on in Taez, the city that spearheaded the revolt" against former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who now supports the Houthis, one resident said.
"Saleh has aligned himself with the rebels to take revenge," Bassam Al Qadhi added.
Saleh quit in early 2012 after bloody year-long protests against his rule, and was replaced by Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who has taken refuge along with his government in Saudi Arabia.
Yesterday's clashes in Taez came just four days before a new UN effort was to have been held, aiming to resolve the conflict in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation.
But there had been growing uncertainty over which of the warring parties would attend the talks slated for Thursday in Geneva.
"I can confirm that the meeting has been postponed," a UN official said on Sunday, without elaborating.
The postponement is another blow to UN efforts to broker peace in a country where nearly 2,000 people have been killed since March.
Yesterday, residents and an official in Taez said fierce fighting had killed and wounded dozens of people.
The clashes, which erupted on Sunday and raged overnight, have killed at least 30 Houthi rebels and allied forces, the official said.
He said a provisional toll showed at least five Hadi loyalists were also killed.
For a second consecutive day, rebels and their allies targeted several Taez neighbourhoods with rockets and tank shells, residents said.
Medics and residents said late on Sunday the bombardment had killed 10 civilians and wounded 80.
Officials in neighbouring Daleh province said pro-Hadi fighters had retaken several positions from the rebels, including a military camp, in dawn fighting yesterday.
They said clashes were ongoing, especially at a now rebel-held base of the 33rd Armoured Brigade where pro-government forces have seized six tanks.
AFP
Clashes were also reported in other southern provinces yesterday, including Shabwa and Abyan as well as Aden.
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