Clashes between Yemen`s government loyalist troops and Iran-backed Shiite Houthi rebels over control of an oil-rich region in Yemen killed 10 soldiers and 16 rebels last week.
Yemen has been the site of a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran after the Houthi rebels forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia, Yemen`s neighbor to the north. The Shiite Houthis are allied with Iran, Saudi Arabia`s regional archrival. The international community recognizes Hadi as Yemen`s legitimate leader.
Since March 2015, the Houthi rebels and loyalists to Hadi have been fighting a civil war in Yemen, and forces in a Saudi-led Arab coalition are trying to restore Hadi to power.
Arms deals
Meanwhile, Brazilian prosecutors said on Tuesday they had charged Forjas Taurus - Latin America`s largest gunmaker - in May for allegedly dealing with a known Yemeni arms trafficker in violation of international sanctions. Prosecutors in the southern city of Porto Alegre said a judge had opened a confidential case against the company.
Two former executives have been charged over the deal that allegedly sent arms to Yemen`s civil war, but the company said it was only a concerned party in the case.
Human rights groups have claimed British-made munitions were responsible for the rising civilian death toll in Yemen`s brutal civil war.
The UK`s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson rejected claims British arms exports have been used against civilians in Saudi air strikes and insisted the UK will go on selling weapons to Riyadh.
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