ADEN, Yemen Yemeni Prime Minister Khaled Bahah returned to the southern port of Aden on Wednesday in a step towards restoring a government on home soil after months of working from exile with Gulf Arab allies to combat Houthi domination of the country.
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There was no indication that Hadi himself – who fled Yemen in late March when the Huthi rebels closed in on his refuge – was set to return.
The pro-Hadi forces, backed by a Saudi-led alliance, have since surged across southern Yemen and gained more ground.
He said that he sees the cabinet reshuffle, which was conducted by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, “in the context of reforming the government’s work”.
Troops from both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are taking part in operations.
Two senior United Nations officials warned this week that violence could escalate in central Yemen, if Sanaa becomes the scene of confrontations between pro-Houthi forces and advancing coalition troops, and civilians would bear the brunt of the bloodshed.
Strikes by Saudi-led coalition aircraft killed at least 54 people in attacks across Yemen yesterday, including four children, the Houthi-run Sabanews.net news agency and residents said.
On the fourth day of the offensive to liberate Saana, the Houthis were massed in Sirwah district in western Marib, which has been besieged by loyalist forces since Sunday, and near the Mas military base on Marib’s northern border with Al Jawf province, which is under rebel control.
On Wednesday night, the Saudi-led coalition started airstrikes targeting houses of Houthi Shiite leaders and officials loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The deaths were caused by a missile that struck an arms depot on 4 September, Anwar Gargash, UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, said on Twitter.
Marib city is controlled by troops and tribes loyal to Hadi, but parts of the oil-rich province remain in rebel hands.
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Their presence, Badi said, “Sends a message to both the inside and outside (world) that all the Yemeni files will be in the hands of a legitimate government on Yemeni lands”.
