ADEN — Pro-government fighters in south Yemen seized Aden's airport on Tuesday as they launched a new offensive against Iran-backed rebels supported by Saudi-led warplanes and ships, military sources said. The fighters from the Popular Resistance also pushed back the Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies from areas within the war-torn port city, the sources said. Warships off the coast of Aden took part in the battle which a presidential official said was part of a new military campaign to regain control of all of the city. Exiled President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi is "personally supervising the operation" dubbed "Operation Golden Arrow for the Liberation of Aden," said his office director Mohammed Marem from Aden. Soldiers of the 39th Armored Brigade had captured Aden's airport on March 25 after switching allegiance to the Houthi rebels. The Houthi rebels and their allies have since gone on to seize the presidential palace and other parts of Aden, the second largest city in Yemen and its main sea port. Military sources in Aden have said that pro-Hadi fighters were now benefiting from ground support from Yemeni forces recently trained in Saudi Arabia, in addition to sophisticated weapons delivered by the coalition. "Forces recently trained in Saudi Arabia are strongly participating in the fighting alongside the Popular Resistance," said one source, adding that these troops cut off rebels' supply routes in parts of the city. Retaking the airport of Aden is the first significant achievement for pro-Hadi fighters since the embattled president fled the port city late March due to an all-out rebel offensive. The rebels are aided by troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh to expand their control to several regions. Fire rages at bombed refinery A blaze that erupted at an oil refinery in Aden after being hit by rockets was raging Tuesday. The refinery was targeted on Monday by rebels, said Nasser Shayef, the spokesman for the facility, warning it could lead to a "humanitarian and environmental catastrophe". The fire broke out when rockets struck pipelines within the refinery. It spread overnight, threatening to reach nearby reservoirs, said Shayef, adding that civil defence units supported by residents of Buraiqa district were struggling to contain the blaze. The neighborhood which is held by southern fighters allied with Hadi has been subject to attacks by Houthi rebels. But the rebels have accused coalition warplanes of bombing the refinery, according to a statement carried by rebel-controlled media. The refinery has not been receiving any oil via the port, but it still has 1.2 million ton of crude in storage and also gas tanks. — Agencies
