(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fierce fighting on Monday between Shiia rebels and pro-government forces in Yemen's third city Taez killed and wounded dozens of people, residents and an official said.
The clashes came a day after a UN official said a proposed peace conference for the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country had been postponed indefinitely.
Witnesses said the fighting in several districts of Taez on Monday morning sparked panic among residents.
The clashes, which erupted on Sunday and raged overnight, have killed at least 30 Huthi rebels and allied forces, the local official told AFP.
He said a provisional toll showed at least five loyalists of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi were also killed.
For a second consecutive day, rebels and their allies targeted several Taez neighbourhoods with rocket and tank fire, residents said.
Medics and residents told AFP late Sunday the bombardment had killed 10 civilians and wounded 80.
"There's a real massacre going on in Taez, the city that spearheaded the revolt" which caused the departure in early 2012 of president Ali Abdullah Saleh who supports the Huthis, resident Bassam al-Qadhi said.
"Saleh has aligned himself with the rebels to take revenge," he added.
Officials in neighbouring Daleh province said pro-Hadi fighters had retaken several positions from the rebels, including a military camp, in dawn fighting.
Clashes were ongoing mid-Monday, they said, especially at a now rebel-held base of the 33rd Armoured Brigade.
Pro-government forces have seized six tanks during the fighting, they said.
Clashes were also reported in other southern provinces of Yemen on Monday, including Aden, Shabwa and Abyan.
It followed a day of intense raids by Saudi-led coalition warplanes targeting rebel arms depots and positions, witnesses said.
The postponement of the planned UN peace conference came just four days before it had been due to open in Geneva.
There had been growing uncertainty over who would attend the talks, and the postponement is a further blow to UN efforts to broker peace in a country where nearly 2,000 people have been killed since March.
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