At least 40 killed in Yemen as fighting continues

At least 40 people have been killed in more than 24 hours of Saudi-led coalition airstrikes and fighting in Yemen's central province of Baida, military sources said on Tuesday.

The fighting and air raids in Mukayris, a town seen as a gateway to southern provinces recently recaptured by pro-government forces, left 19 rebels, 15 loyalists and six civilians dead, the sources told AFP.

Coalition strikes against rebel positions in Baida continued on Tuesday as the fighting raged, they added.

Baida is home to mainly Sunni tribes that have been fighting Houthi rebels who advanced from their northern stronghold last year.

Mukayris is on the border between Baida and the southern province of Abyan, which loyalists have recaptured along with Aden, Lahj, Daleh and Shabwa since mid-July.

Other clashes were ongoing Tuesday, and coalition raids targeted rebels in the vast oil-rich Marib province in the east, witnesses said.

A local Houthi military chief was killed along with several rebels in a coalition raid on one of their positions in Marib, witnesses said.

Overnight fighting between Houthis and tribesmen on the border between Sanaa and Marib provinces killed 13 people, tribal sources said.

The latest fighting has focused on provinces near Sanaa, including third city Taiz which is seen as key to controlling the capital.

Residents reported that Taiz was quiet early on Tuesday following a night of clashes and airstrikes.

On Monday, one local official said that up to 53 Houthis were killed in coalition air raids on Marib, but there was no independent confirmation of this.

Saudi soldiers

Meanwhile, three Saudi soldiers have been killed by artillery fire from Yemen, and another died when his patrol vehicle crashed along the border, authorities in Riyadh said on Tuesday.

A Saudi border post in the kingdom's southern region of Jazan came under shell and rocket fire from Yemeni territory on Monday.

After initially reporting that one soldier had been killed in the attack, an interior ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that two others had succumbed to their wounds.

Quoted by the official SPA news agency, the spokesman did not give a number of those thought to have been wounded in the attack.

In a separate incident, a Saudi soldier operating along the border with Yemen was killed when his vehicle overturned, the spokesman added.

Riyadh said Sunday that rocket fire had killed a general, the highest-ranking officer to die in cross-border attacks since the Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes in March.

Nearly 60 people, mainly military personnel, have been killed in Saudi Arabia's border region since the air campaign began.