![Government forces attack positions of Houthis and pro- Saleh militants in Yemen on 6 April 2017 [Abdulnasser Alseddik/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/d2.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/20170406_2_22913071_20734651.jpg?fit=920%2C610&ssl=1)
The Shia Houthi militant group launched an assault against United Arab Emirate-backed forces in Ta’iz governorate, Al-Masdar News reported.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels reportedly killed ten UAE-backed Southern Resistance soldiers in the offensive near the city of Mocha. Overnight, the group claimed to have destroyed ten UAE supplied military vehicles in Ta’iz governorate.
Al-Masdar News has been accused of being a propaganda outlet close to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and lends media support to the Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad.
Read: Yemen’s Saleh turns against Houthis
Following regional power Saudi Arabia’s lead, the UAE intervened in the Yemen civil war in 2015 in a bid to assist the internationally recognised government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, but since May 2017 have supported a southern secessionist movement called the Southern Transitional Council.
The UAE intends to address the threat of the Iranian-backed Houthi group and secure the Red Sea Hodeidah port.