17 militants killed in Yemen

ADEN: Air strikes killed at least 17 suspected al-Qaeda militants overnight in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, witnesses, medics and a security official said on Sunday.

The air strikes hit al-Mansoura district, a stronghold for militants and an area which has witnessed several attacks against local security officials since the Saudi-led coalition retook Aden last July from the Iran-allied Houthi militia.

The sources said at least 20 civilians and militants were wounded as well as three members of the security forces.

The strikes targeted the militants who were sitting atop vehicles and one of the strikes hit a local government building.

Intermittent clashes were still going on, they said.

There was tenuous calm in the district later in the district on Sunday, with streets leading out of the area closed off.

A Reuters reporter saw the rubble of a butcher’s shop and the wreckages of destroyed cars.  Electricity was cut across the district and food shops remained closed.