ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Offensives and counter-offensives between Yemeni warring rivals gained momentum, just hours after the announcement of the failure of the UN-sponsored negotiations in Geneva, leaving scores of casualties.
According to military officials, scores were killed and many others injured in different parts of Yemen over the past 24 hours, as both the government forces and Houthi rebels resumed armed operations amid intensified airstrikes.
The Yemeni government forces, backed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, launched multi-pronged and well-coordinated offensives against Houthis in various areas of the country.
In the Red Sea coastal city of Hodeidah, medical sources confirmed to Xinhua that high casualties were recorded in the non-stop ground fighting and airstrikes.
Initial reports from hospitals controlled by the Shiite Houthi group showed more than 52 Houthi rebels were killed and many others sustained injuries during the ongoing fighting in Hodeidah.
Meanwhile, similar reports revealed by government-run medical centers indicated that 20 soldiers were killed and nearly 15 others injured in battles with Iran-backed Houthis in the city.
Casualties are likely to increase in the next few hours as fighting expanded to more areas there, said local sources.
A commander of the pro-government Giant Brigades told Xinhua by phone that Houthi fighters were being besieged in Hodeidah amid ground attacks and Saudi-led air bombardment on their sites.
"A number of areas were recaptured by the government forces, with more than 13 Houthi fighters captured during the fighting," the commander said on condition of anonymity.
Supply lines linking the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa and Hodeidah were all cut by government forces, the military source added.
However, sources close to the Houthi group dismissed the pro-government claim as inaccurate, saying warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition launched more than 40 airstrikes and randomly destroyed infrastructure in Hodeidah.
The Houthi rebels confronted the government offensives by firing a barrage of mortar shells against their military sites in Hodeidah, causing an unknown number of casualties, the Houthi sources noted.
The UN-sponsored talks between the Yemeni warring sides failed on Saturday after two days of delay because of the absence of a delegation representing Houthi rebels.
The fizzled first attempt in two years to negotiate an end to the four-year-long civil war raised increased fears among the Yemeni people about the fate of their impoverished Arab country.
In recent days, the Yemeni government seeks to expel the Houthi rebels out of the strategic port city of Hodeidah militarily despite warnings issued by international humanitarian agencies.
On the other side, the Houthis built many underground trenches and vowed to defend Hodeidah to remain their control of its key port along the Red Sea.
Yemen has been locked into a civil war since the Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.
Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Houthi rebels forced him into exile in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
The United Nations has listed Yemen as the country suffering the world's most serious humanitarian crisis, where 7 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine, and more than 2,000 died of cholera.
