Yemen loyalists push back rebels on Red Sea coast

ADEN: Yemeni government forces made gains around the Red Sea coastal town of Mokha in heavy fighting overnight as they rebuffed a rebel counter-offensive, a military source said on Thursday.
Seven loyalist troops and 16 rebels were killed in the fighting, hospital sources said. Twelve soldiers and 28 rebels were wounded.
Government forces captured Yakhtul, 14 kilometers (nine miles) north of Mokha, and Jabal Nar, 10 kilometers (six miles) to the east, consolidating their grip on the town they overran on February 10, the military source told AFP.
On Tuesday, government forces had suffered a major setback in the offensive they launched in January to try to recapture Yemen’s 450 kilometer (280 mile) Red Sea coastline, which had previously been almost entirely in rebel hands.
Rebel forces counterattacked, killing a deputy army commander and 18 other troops.
The loyalists’ capture of Mokha was their biggest success in months.