(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Iranian-allied fighters controlling much of Yemen said yesterday air strikes led by Saudi Arabia killed 43 people in the central city of Taiz.
The city has become the latest focus of fighting for supporters of President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, driven into exile in Riyadh by the Houthi rebels.
Medical sources said Houthi attacks on the city killed 13 people, including seven children. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition.
The Saba news agency run by the Houthis said the Saudi-led air raids late on Thursday targeted Taiz's republican palace and the Sala neighbourhood, which has a dense population of Houthis that dominates northern Yemen.
It said 50 people had been injured and the bodies of some of the killed were found in the ruins of buildings destroyed by the bombing in Sala.
Local officials said the Houthis fired mortars at Taiz's Asifrah neighbourhood and Al Masbah, east of the city, to drive out Hadi's supporters. The shelling also destroyed a main power plant in the city.
Gains by pro-Hadi forces have put them in control of parts of the city between the Houthi- dominated north and the south, where Hadi supporters have been cheered by strategic gains in the past month.
The southern port city of Aden was retaken from the Houthis last month with the help of heavy air strikes and weapons deliveries. The Houthis still hold the capital Sana'a.
The Saudi-led alliance began air strikes in late March when the Shia Houthis entered Aden.
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