18 dead as Yemen loyalists attack rebels on Red Sea coast

Yemeni government forces attacked rebel positions on the Red Sea coast on Saturday sparking clashes in which seven soldiers, including a general, and 11 rebels were killed, loyalist military sources said. The assault on the coastal district of Dhubab, just 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the Bab al-Mandab strait linking the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, came after the government sent reinforcements from its headquarters in Aden. The general was killed by rebel sniper fire, the military sources said. The government and its allies in a Saudi-led coalition recaptured the strait in October 2015.