HAJJAH, Yemen, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 156 Houthi militants were killed in battles with the Yemeni government army in the past two days in Yemen's northern province of Hajjah, military sources told Xinhua on Saturday.
The battle raged on in Harad city near the Saudi border and the adjacent Abs district.
"A total of 106 militants were killed on Friday in a battle with the government armed forces in Harad," the source on the frontline in northern Harad told Xinhua.
"Dozens of vehicles of the Houthi militia were also bombed by the coalition airstrikes," the source added, referring to the Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government army.
The battle in Harad erupted days after the Houthi militia drove the government army out of the city, killing more than 60 soldiers and wounding 140 others, according to government military sources.
In Abd district, the Yemeni troops backed by the coalition warplanes repelled on Thursday an attempted advance of the Houthi militia toward the positions of the Yemeni army.
"Fifty Houthis were killed on the spot and dozens of the militants wounded," another military source on the frontline of the Bani Hasan area in northern Abs told Xinhua.
"The army also shot down 10 bomb-laden drones," he added.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. ■
