ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations announced on Sunday that the fighting between forces of the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC) left around 40 people dead and 260 others injured.
"Scores of civilians have been killed and wounded since Aug. 8 when fighting broke out in the city of Aden. Preliminary reports indicate that as many as 40 people have been killed and 260 injured," the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen Lise Grande said in a statement.
"It is heart-breaking that during Eid al-Adha, families are mourning the death of their loved ones instead of celebrating together in peace and harmony," she added.
"We are also very worried by reports that civilians trapped in their homes are running out of food and water," the UN official noted.
Grande urged the two warring sides to protect civilians and called on the local authorities to guarantee unimpeded access for humanitarian organizations.
Earlier in the day, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition launched an airstrike on a military site belonging to the forces of the STC, according to a government official.
Following the airstrike, the STC forces, which had taken over the government's military bases and the presidential palace, announced its withdrawal on the Saudi-led coalition's request.
On Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen demanded an immediate cease-fire in Aden and warned of military step against violators, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The coalition demanded the military groups in Aden withdraw from areas they occupied in recent days and keep away from government and private property.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government accused the STC forces of staging a coup against the country's constitutional legitimacy with direct support from a regional power.
The Yemeni government held the STC and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a key partner of Saudi-led coalition, full responsible for the consequences of the coup against the authorities in Aden.
The southern port city of Aden is almost entirely under the control of the STC forces that are also allied to the Saudi-led coalition in the fighting against the Houthis.
Aden's fighting started when senior leaders of the STC accused the Saudi-backed Yemeni government of "backing Islamists and leaking information to the Iran-backed Houthis" who targeted an army base in Aden last week, killing scores of soldiers including commanders.
Considered Yemen's temporary capital, Aden is where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has based itself since 2015.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces including the capital Sanaa.
