Yemen war: The deadliest day yet

As many as 176 fighters and civilians were reported dead in Yemen on Monday, in what would be the deadliest day of fighting since the Saudi-led coalition begin airstrikes in the country on March 26, Reuters reported.

The dead were killed as a result of airstrikes and ground fighting between the various parties in the conflict, which shows no sign of abating.

The number of dead had initially been reported as almost 100, after reports from the Houthi-run state news agency Saba and local residents, but this was revised upwards.

There have been numerous calls for a ceasefire, led by the United Nations, but these have proven to be fruitless thus far, and the fighting between the rebel Houthi forces and allied army units loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh on one side, and localised anti-Houthi forces as well as army units still loyal to exiled president Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, rages on, claiming nearly 3,000 lives since the Saudi-led coalition intervened on behalf of Hadi.

The dead on Monday included 54 people in a number of raids in the northern Amran province, according to Saba, including 40 in a market in an area called Lower Joub in the Eyal Yazeed district.

Those killed are said to include women and children.

Another market hit by strikes was in the south of the country, in a town called Fayoush, outside of the major port city of Aden, which has been decimated by months of fighting. More than 40 people are said to have died in Fayoush.

The Houthi-Saleh forces control most of Aden, as well as the main road linking Aden to Lahj, a town to the north, where locals say an air raid left 30 dead at a checkpoint, including 10 Houthi fighters.

Reuters attempted to reach the Saudi-led coalition for comment, but not spokesperson was available. The coalition has previously stated that it does not target civilians.

Also on Monday, the fighting in Aden saw mortar shells fired by the Houthis set a gas pipeline and empty oil storage tanks on fire in the Buraiqah area, which the Houthi-Saleh forces are attempting to seize, according to residents.

The U.N. special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, was in Sanaa for talks with Houthi officials in an attempt to broker a ceasefire which would allow desperately needed humanitarian aid to be delivered, but no date has been set.

A spokesman for the exiled Yemeni government in Riyadh said that they support a humanitarian pause, which would last until the end of the Eid festival, on July 17.

"We are now in consultations for guarantees to ensure the success of the truce," Rajeh Badi told Reuters.