ADEN (Reuters) - Fighters loyal to Yemen's deposed president seized about 10 southern villages from Houthi forces on Tuesday, pursuing their offensive a day after capturing the country's biggest air base, residents and loyalist sources said.
Clashes took place across the southern province of Lahj, most of which is now back in the hands of the Saudi-backed loyalist forces.
Militias siding with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled Yemen for Saudi Arabia in March, and army units trained and equipped by Gulf Arab countries have made advances against the Iranian-allied Houthis in recent weeks.
Yemeni military sources said the United Arab Emirates had sent in dozens of tanks and heavy artillery pieces to the fighters in recent days, though a spokesman for the Arab coalition denied media reports that it had sent ground troops.
Boosted by Saudi-led air strikes, the fighters drove the Houthis from the port city of Aden last month then pushed northward and recaptured the Al-Anad air base from Houthi forces on Monday after besieging it for days.
"The next step for the popular resistance and army forces after liberating Aden is the clearing of the provinces of Abyan and Lahj," a commander in the anti-Houthi forces told Reuters.
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