More than 80 dead fighting for key Yemen city

Heavy fighting between government loyalists and rebels for Yemen's third city Taiz has left more than 80 people dead in the past 24 hours, military sources said on Monday.

The dead bodies of 50 Shia Houthi rebels and allied troops were retrieved from the city on Monday, the sources in Taiz said, adding that 31 pro-government fighters were also killed.

Loyalist and rebel forces have fought over Taiz - a key city seen as a gateway to capital Sanaa - for several days as pro-government troops press recent territorial gains after retaking much of southern Yemen from Iran-backed rebel fighters.

The conflict has cost nearly 4,300 lives since March, half of them civilians, according to UN figures, while 80 percent of Yemen's 21 million people have been left in need of aid and protection.

Residents in Sanaa reported the first Gulf Arab air strikes on the city for about a month on Sunday.

The Arab states say the Houthis are a proxy for Iran, an accusation the movement denies, arguing that it is advancing a revolution against corrupt officials backed by the West. 

Fighting had been in a stalemate for almost four months but the Houthis' opponents have gained the upper hand with training and weapons deliveries by the Gulf states. They have seized several southern provinces in an advance northward toward Sanaa. 

Residents in the capital reported the first Gulf Arab air strikes on the city for about a month on Sunday targeting the main military airport and a weapons depot. 

The United Nations' envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, has been shuttling between the warring sides, including the Houthis' representatives in neighbouring Oman, in an attempt to secure Houthi withdrawals from cities and spare Yemen's ancient capital from a devastating final battle.