Yemeni rebels pushed back in Aden

Soldiers loyal to ousted Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi have reportedly succeeded in pushing back Shia Houthi rebels in the southern city of Aden.

Officials say that a Saudi-led coalition aided the Hadi loyalists by air-dropping arms and communications equipment

Meanwhile, al-Qaeda militants seized a military base and the port of the south-eastern port city of Mukalla, a day after fighters released prisoners from the town’s jail.

Mukalla is the provincial capital of the country's largest province, Hadramawt, which has a long stretch of border with Saudi Arabia.

A military official said that al-Qaeda seized the headquarters of the 2nd Military Region “without resistance", while Hadramawt's governor, Adel Ba-hamed, said that Mukalla's capture was part of a "scenario aimed at dragging the province and its residents'' into the chaos across Yemen.

Two Saudi soldiers were killed on the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, a day after a Saudi soldier was killed from the Yemeni side of the border in the Asir region.

Saudi Arabia began air strikes in Yemen on 25 March and it has reportedly assigned 150,000 troops and 100 warplanes to assist Yemen’s government.

The Saudi government says the military operation is aimed at protecting President Hadi's "legitimate government". It says it has no plans to deploy ground forces for now.

Fighting in Yemen has left more than 500 people dead and some 1,700 wounded over the past two weeks, according to UN humanitarian Valerie Amos. 

President Hadi faces strong opposition from troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who was ousted in the Arab Spring protests, the Houthis and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which opposes both the Houthis and Hadi. Hadi fled to Saudi Arabia on 25 March after rebel forces advanced on Aden.

The UN Security Council will convene later on today to discuss a Russian proposal for a pause in the Saudi-led campaign.