At least 28 Huthi insurgents and 12 Yemeni soldiers were killed Tuesday in the southern province of Shabwa as government forces pushed to capture a rebel enclave, military officials said. The fighting flared when forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi attacked rebels in Bayhan district, on the border between Shabwa and Marib provinces.

Bayhan is the only part of Shabwa province still controlled by the Iran-backed rebels after government forces supported by the Saudi-led Arab coalition last year expelled them from five southern provinces. "The death toll of the Huthis has reached 28 while 12 soldiers of the legitimate forces were killed," a military official said. Military officials said government forces backed by coalition warplanes drove the rebels out of several positions in the area, adding that 14 insurgents were also captured.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2016