Two Yemen separatist force fighters killed in clashes with Houthis

Two members of the Yemeni separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces were killed Saturday in clashes with Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the country’s southwest, the STC said.

The fighters from the UAE-backed STC, which forms a major pillar of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting in Yemen, were killed in the Lahj province, their media outlet Dera al-Ganoob said.

"The Houthi militias renewed, on Saturday evening, their artillery bombardment on the positions of our southern armed forces in the Karsh front… as a result, two martyrs were killed and another was wounded," the group said.

The Houthis are yet to comment on the alleged attack.

Clashes between the warring sides have escalated since failure to renew a UN-mediated truce between Saudi-led coalition forces and the Houthis earlier this month.

The Houthis have blamed the recent dead-end peace negotiations on the United Nations – who are facilitating ceasefire talks – as they say the current UN proposal "does not live up to the demands of the Yemenis".

Yemen’s ruinous conflict began in 2014 when Houthi forces seized the capital of Sanaa. 

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government to power.

 The regional proxy war has killed in excess of 150,000 people, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

The war has turned Yemen into the site of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and pushed the nation into near famine.