The fight for control of Yemen’s largest air base raged Tuesday, with Saudi-led coalition fighters saying they were rooting out the last Houthi rebels holed up in the airfield.
Popular Resistance, an armed faction allied with Saudi Arabia, said it had captured the main buildings at Al Anad air base near the southern Yemeni city of Aden, but that fighting was continuing.
Through their official media outlet, the Houthis denied Tuesday the base had been captured but offered no details in a confrontation that has emerged as a key test in the four-month military campaign by Saudi Arabia and its allies to restore exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to power.
The Iranian-backed Houthis currently control most of Yemen, but in recent weeks they have been driven from the southern city of Aden the start of what appeared to be a concerted push by coalition forces to retake territory.