38 Killed İn Violence Across Yemen On Sunday

At least 38 people were killed in clashes between Houthi militants and pro-government forces across conflict-ridden Yemen on Sunday.



Battles broke out between government forces and Houthi militants in Yam Mount, east of Yemeni capital Sanaa, local commander Abdullah al-Shandaki told Anadolu Agency.



"Twelve Houthis and three government forces were killed in the violence," he said.



Thirteen Houthis and allied forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh were also killed in confrontations in the central Taiz province.



"Two pro-government fighters were killed and three others injured in the violence," a local source said.



Another local source said four Houthi militants were killed in an ambush set by pro-government forces in the central Al-Bayda' province. Both sources spoke anonymously due to restrictions to speaking to media.



Four Houthis were also reportedly killed in an ambush in Ibb in central Yemen.



There was no comment from the Shia Houthi group on the fatalities.



Yemen has fallen into chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country, forcing President ABD Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his Saudi-backed government to temporarily flee to Riyadh.



In March of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive military campaign in Yemen aimed at reversing Houthi gains and restoring Hadi's embattled government.



Backed by Saudi-led airstrikes, pro-Hadi forces have since managed to reclaim large swathes of the country's south -- including provisional capital Aden -- but have failed to retake Sanaa and other strategic areas.



In April of this year, the Yemeni government and the Houthis entered into UN-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait aimed at resolving the conflict, in which more than 6,400 people have been killed and another 2.5 million forced to flee their homes.



The negotiations, however, have largely failed to produce any serious breakthroughs.



*Anadolu Agency correspondent Ahmet Sait Akcay contributed to this report from Ankara -