Medical Aid Boat Docks in Aden as 22 Dead in Rebel Shelling
At least 22 people were killed on Wednesday in tank and mortar shelling by rebel forces on residential areas in Yemen's second city Aden, a medic and a local official said.
"Twenty-two dead and more than 70 wounded have been transferred to several hospitals in Aden," a medical official told AFP, adding that most of the casualties were civilians.
A local official confirmed that Shiite Huthi rebels and troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh "randomly shelled... civilian homes" in Mualla and Crater districts of Aden.
The same sources said that clashes between local militias, known as "popular committees" and Huthis left several fighters dead on Wednesday but could not immediately provide a toll.
A military source said that 11 people were killed in Aden overnight in clashes between rebels and forces loyal to fugitive President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Earlier in the day, a boat carrying medical aid docked in Aden, the first in two weeks of a Saudi-led air campaign against Shiite rebels, Doctors Without borders (MSF) said.
The boat traveled from Djibouti and carried 2.5 tons of medical aid, Marie-Elisabeth Ingres, the head of MSF's Yemen mission, told AFP.
"The shipment will be delivered to our hospital in Aden," she said, adding that the group hoped aid destined for the capital and northern regions would arrive in Sanaa by air by Friday.
MSF warned on Tuesday that the situation in Aden was "worsening by the day" amid continued fighting between rebels and forces loyal to President Hadi.
MSF has 140 local staff and eight expatriates working at a hospital in Aden.
The Red Cross is also hoping to deliver to Sanaa 16 tonnes of medical aid on a plane loaded in Jordan.
More than 540 people have died and 1,700 been wounded since March 19 in Yemen, the World Health Organization said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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