Yemen War News Updates -- January 8, 2017

The Bab Al-Mandeb strait has oil tankers squeezing between Yemen and Djibouti. Photo: CIA World Factbook

AFP: Yemen clashes leave scores killed in battle for strategic strait

Aden (AFP) - At least 68 fighters have been killed in two days of fierce battles between Yemeni forces and Shiite Huthi rebels near the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait, military officials said Sunday.

Government forces launched on Saturday an assault to recapture the coastal Dhubab district, just 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Bab al-Mandab which links the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Since then at least 55 Huthis have been killed in fighting and 72 others wounded, military and medical sources said.

Clashes since Saturday have also killed 13 loyalists forces, including an army general, Brigadier-General Abdul Aziz al-Majidi, a loyalist commander, told AFP.

Landmines planted by the rebels have slowed down the advance of government forces, military officials said.

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Yemen War News Updates -- January 8, 2017

At least 55 Houthis killed in battles near Yemen’s strategic strait -- The National
Yemen army sets sights on Mocha after liberating Dhobab -- Gulf News
Yemen Government Claims Crucial Advance in Battle on Red Sea Coast -- VOA
Houthi militias killed as areas of Taiz liberated -- Al Arabiya
Yemeni Army Repels Massive Attack by Saudi-Led Coalition in Taiz -- Tasnim News Agency
Arab coalition spokesman: Yemeni army now able to manage operations -- Al Arabiya
Yemeni army is ready to fight rebels on its own - Saudi-led coalition representative -- TASS
Starving Yemenis resort to eating rubbish -- Al Jazeera
Yemen's orphans face 'catastrophe' as fighting rages -- Al Jazeera
‘Sometimes the baby dies, sometimes the mother’: Life and death in Yemen’s hospitals -- Washington Post