ADEN, Yemen, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Six Yemeni government soldiers, including a high-ranking officer, were killed and several others wounded in a "massive" Houthi attack on government positions in the southern Lahj province on Wednesday, a military official told Xinhua.
The attack targeted key positions held by government troops in the Karsh area of the Al Qabbaytah district, north of Lahj, sparking fierce clashes. Colonel Abdul Latif Marhabi, a commander of the region's battalions, was among those killed, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The government forces eventually repelled the attack, according to the official. The Houthis have yet to comment on the incident.
The Karsh area is situated near the strategically significant al-Anad Air Base, Yemen's largest military facility. The base, seized by the Houthi group after the civil war broke out in late 2014, was recaptured by government forces in August 2015 with support from the Saudi-led coalition.
Yemen has been mired in a devastating civil war for almost a decade, pitting the Saudi-backed internationally recognized government against the Houthi group. The United Nations considers this conflict to have caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. ■
