Displaced families are seen outside their temporary displacement camp in the northeastern part of Dhalea city, Yemen, on July 2, 2019. Scores of families left the northern parts of Yemen's southern province of Dhalea, as fighting heavily intensified between the government forces and the Houthi rebels on Tuesday, a security official said. (Xinhua/Murad Abdo)
DHALEA CITY, Yemen, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Scores of families left the northern parts of Yemen's southern province of Dhalea, as fighting heavily intensified between the government forces and the Houthi rebels on Tuesday, a security official said.
The fighting escalated following an attack launched by government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition to recapture key military sites from Houthis' control near Qataba district to the northern part of Dhalea, said the security official, who asked to remain anonymous.
He said that the fighting over the control of a number of villages near Qataba entered a new phase of escalation using heavy artillery bombardment between the two warring rivals.
Within two days, fighting forced about 26 families to flee and establish a temporary displacement camp in Al Hussein district to the northeastern part of Dhalea province without adequate food assistance, according to local security source.
A displaced citizen interviewed by Xinhua said that the intense fighting forced many families to flee as it is still continuing.
"We left our houses in Qataba to take shelter here in Al Hussein district away from the ongoing war," said a displaced citizen named Abdul-Rahman.
"But our new suffering started here as we don't have enough tents and spend our nights under heavy rains," he said.
Another displaced citizen Khaled Eshaq urged the United Nations and human rights groups to visit the affected families in Dhalea.
"Our life is full of pains after leaving our houses. We demand the United Nations organizations in particular to help us," said Khaled.
Earlier in the day, intense fighting continued for several hours between the two warring rivals in near Qataba, leaving casualties among both sides.
About four government soldiers and six Houthi fighters were killed during the armed confrontations, according to military official based in Dhalea.
In April, the Iranian-allied Houthi fighters launched a series of intense armed attacks on the positions of government forces and succeeded in seizing the district of Al Husha in the west of Dhalea.
Yemen has been plagued by a civil war since late 2014 after Houthi rebels revolted and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.
