Aden: Pro-government soldiers and extremists clashed on Monday in Yemen’s southern city of Taiz following the killing of an aid worker with the International Committee of the Red Cross, police said.
Fighting in the city’s Jahmaliah district came after the governor of Taiz launched an operation against extremists that he suspected were behind the murder of the ICRC employee over the weekend.
Jahmaliah is controlled by pro-government forces but there is an extremist presence in the area, a police officer told AFP.
A large portion of Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, is held by pro-government fighters but the entrances to the city are controlled by Al Houthi militiamen.
Fierce clashes broke out after the operation was launched on Monday morning, according to the officer, who was unable to provide further details.
On Sunday, Taiz governor Ameen Ahmad Mahmoud, loyal to President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, created a special force of police and army units tasked with launching an operation against extremists he believes killed the ICRC employee on Saturday.
The Lebanese aid worker, Hanna Lahoud, was shot in Taiz by unidentified assailants.
In March, Yemen entered its fourth year of war between the Iran-backed Al Houthis and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.
Nearly 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict, in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Extremists, including from Al Qaida and Daesh, have taken advantage of the chaos to expand their influence in parts of Yemen, particularly in the south.
