ADEN: Yemeni rebels hit back at government forces advancing up the Red Sea coast, killing a deputy army commander in a missile strike, a military source said on Wednesday.

Army deputy chief of staff Major General Ahmad Saif Al Yafii was killed by a heat-seeking missile on the outskirts of the coastal town of Mokha, the source told AFP.

Another 18 soldiers as well as 21 rebels were killed in the clashes between Iran-backed Huthi insurgents and a Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government.

More than 50 others from the two sides were wounded in the fighting, which saw the coalition carry out air strikes as the rebels reached the eastern outskirts of Mokha.-AFP