Fighting in Yemen kills 50 people

More than 50 people were killed in Yemen in the past two days in fighting pitting an Arab coalition against Houthi fighters backed by troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, medical sources and residents said yesterday.

In Taiz, medical sources told Reuters 29 people including eight civilians were killed in clashes in Yemen's third largest city, where relief workers have said fighting has blocked food supplies and left thousands of people in extreme hunger. About 30 people were killed in fighting in Damt district in Dhalea governorate in the south, residents said. At least 5,600 people have been killed in seven months of war in Yemen.