Pro-government soldiers march during a military parade celebrating the 54th anniversary of North Yemen’s revolution in the central province of Marib September 27, 2016.

Seven fighters were killed in clashes between Houthi militias and loyalists of Ali Abudllah Saleh in southwest Yemen on Thursday, a loyalist officer said.

Four militias and three pro-government fighters died on the edge of Taez and Lahj provinces in fighting for control of an area overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait, the officer said.

The busy shipping lane links the Suez Canal and the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Fighting between the Houthi militias and fighters loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has spiked on several fronts since UN-backed peace talks were suspended in early August.

A Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of Hadi’s government in March 2015, after the Houthi militias overran much of the country including the capital Sana’a.

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