Air raids kill 23 rebels in Yemen south: Govt official

Aden: At least 23 Yemeni rebels were killed in fresh Saudi-led coalition air strikes on Thursday on their positions in the southern town of Daleh, a government official there said.

In Yemen`s third city of Taez, meanwhile, a Red Cross official said his team retrieved the bodies of 10 pro-government soldiers thought to have died when rebels overran a loyalist base there on Wednesday.

Speaking to AFP, the official said there were more bodies but that the Red Cross team was being denied access to the site by the Huthi Shi'ite rebels in the area.

Several rebel positions in schools and public buildings were "razed" by air strikes in Daleh as well as in the nearby province of Lahj, said Nasser al-Shuaibi, a leader of armed groups loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

A government official in Daleh said 23 Huthis were killed, but the Huthis rarely acknowledge their losses and the toll could not be verified from other sources.

The rebels took advantage of a Saudi-led coalition announcement that it has halted the first phase of its air war on them and on Wednesday overran the headquarters of the 35th Armoured Brigade in Taez.

Residents said overnight air raids hit rebel positions in the city, and a medic said there were casualties in their ranks but could not immediately provide a toll.

In Yemen`s second city Aden, in the south, health department director Al-Kheder Lassouar said six people, including civilians and pro-Hadi militiamen, were killed and 56 others were wounded in 24 hours of clashes between rival forces.

Those hurt included two medics whose ambulance came under fire from rebels.