At least 22 people were killed today in fighting between al-Qaeda forces and pro-Saudi factions in the port city of Aden, nominally the “interim capital” city of pro-Saudi Yemen. The district came under heavy airstrikes from Saudi warplanes.
Local officials say that 17 al-Qaeda were among the slain, along with three government security forces and two civilians. This is the latest round of fighting against the increasingly aggressive Islamists, who used the Saudi war to seize considerable territory along the southern coast.
Saudi Arabia attacked Yemen in late March of 2015, vowing to reinstall former President Hadi, who had resigned months prior. Hadi makes occasional trips to Aden to oversee the would-be government of the pro-Saudi faction, but their control is limited to much of Aden and the surrounding area.
The war has seen huge numbers of civilians killed, many in Saudi airstrikes, and has dragged on far longer than officials expected. This has led to some initial talk of ending the conflict with something short of total military victory, something the Saudis had previously dismissed as unthinkable.