At least six militiamen loyal to Yemen’s former Saudi-backed president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, have been killed when a bomb explosion targeted a checkpoint in the country’s southern province of Abyan.
A local source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a bomber detonated his explosive vest in the al-Wadea district of the province, located more than 270 kilometers south of the capital, Sana’a, on Saturday.
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet, but al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group have carried out acts of terror in the region in the past.
The explosion came on the same day as Saudi warplanes targeted several areas across the impoverished conflict-ridden country.
At least one civilian was killed and ten others, including women and children, sustained injuries, when Saudi military aircraft struck a residential building at the Khiwan area of Huth district in Yemen's northwestern province of Amran.
Saudi fighter jets also bombarded Sarwah district in the central province of Ma'rib, leaving one civilian dead and two others injured.
Saudi jets also pounded al-Manzala district in the al-Dhaher district of the northwestern Yemeni province of Sa'ada, with no immediate reports of casualties.
An unnamed military source also said Yemeni forces and fighters from allied Popular Committees managed to purge Tawal al-Sadah area in Usaylan district of the central province of Shabwah of pro-Saudi gunmen following fierce exchanges of gunfire between the two sides.
Additionally, scores of Saudi mercenaries were killed and wounded as Yemeni forces and their allies thwarted their assaults against Dhubab and Kahboub districts in Yemen’s southwestern province of Ta'izz.
The Saudi war on Yemen, which has killed at least 11,400 Yemenis, was launched in March 2015 in an unsuccessful attempt to bring back Hadi’s government to power and undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The Saudi war has taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.