Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Yemen’s capital on August 20 in a show of support for a council set up by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels to rule the war-torn country.
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Since the campaign began, the US military has conducted an average of two refuelling sorties every day.
The Council was created by Houthi rebels and their ally, ex-vice president Ali Abdullah Saleh, at the end of July to govern the country, Efe news reported.
Those talks collapsed earlier this month, and fighting has ramped back up.
“Economic affairs will be the priority of our work in the coming period”, he said.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the reduced staffing was not due to the growing worldwide outcry over civilian casualties in the 16-month civil war that has killed more than 6,500 people in Yemen, about half of them civilians.
The US forces assisting the Saudi-led coalition in coordinating air strikes in Yemen have largely withdrawn from Riyadh in an apparent move to distance themselves from the mounting civilian death toll in the 17-month long conflict, Reuters has learned.
As the rally was underway, three air strikes targeted the presidential compound located 600 metres away from the square without causing casualties, residents told Reuters.
In Oman, one of the countries where peace talks were held, Houthi negotiators said that Saudi forces were preventing them from returning to Yemen by blocking global flights to Sanaa’s airport.
Paris-based MSF on Thursday accused the coalition of “indiscriminate bombings” and said it had lost confidence in the alliance’s ability to prevent fatal attacks on its facilities. They included five Yemenis and one Pakistani national.
Officials told Reuters that the United States may readjust its support again as airstrikes escalate.
The central bank’s governor dismissed the reports of new board appointments as “groundless” in an emailed statement, while a spokesman from Mr Hadi’s government could not immediately be reached for comment.
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The central bank has been considered the last bastion of the impoverished country’s financial system, paying salaries to state employees on both sides of the front lines and guaranteeing food imports as Yemen approaches starvation.
