SANAA, Yemen
Forces loyal to president-in-exile Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi on Sunday captured Yemen’s southwestern city of Zinjibar from the Shia Houthi militia, according to pro-Hadi sources.
In a Facebook post, Ali al-Ahmadi, a spokesman for the pro-Hadi “Popular Resistance” forces, declared: “Resistance and army forces have defeated the [Houthi] militias in Zinjibar.”
Anadolu Agency, however, was unable to independently verify the spokesman’s claim.
Pro-Hadi sources also claimed to have killed 15 Houthi militants in clashes that erupted in Yemen’s central Maarib province.
“Houthi militants launched an attack on pro-Hadi positions in Maarib’s Mas area,” the same sources told Anadolu Agency. “But the resistance managed to repel the attack.”
In a separate development on Sunday, Yemeni security sources said that aircraft from a Saudi Arabia-led coalition had "accidentally" bombed Zinjibar, killing 20 civilians.
Yemen descended into chaos last September, when the Shia Houthi militia overran capital Sanaa.
In April, the Houthis also managed to capture Yemen’s southern Aden province, forcing President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi -- along with most of his government -- to flee to Saudi Arabia.
Recent weeks, however, have seen pro-Hadi forces -- backed by Saudi-led air power -- retake most of the coastal province, allowing for the return of several Yemeni government officials from Riyadh.
President Hadi himself, however, has yet to return to the war-ravaged country.
Nearly 2,000 Yemeni civilians have been killed to date in the fighting between Houthi militiamen and pro-Hadi forces, according to U.N. figures released early this month.
