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Yemen’s Cabinet was back in the country after months spent in self-imposed exile in Saudi Arabia and was working Wednesday out of the southern port city of Aden, a government spokesman said.

A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has stepped up its attacks on Iranian-supported Houthi rebels in Yemen’s central province of Marib, as its forces draw nearer to the capital San’a.

Five civilians, including two women, were killed when a coalition raid targeting rebels in northern Sanaa hit three houses, witnesses said.

The Saudi-led anti-Houthi campaign, which came at Hadi’s request, seeks to restore the internationally recognized president and his government to power and has been ongoing since March 26.

Coalition officials have said they aim to move north to retake Sana’a from the Houthis, who are backed by former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Al Jubeir also said King Salman and Obama discussed a plan to improve American military cooperation with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries that was announced after a Camp David summit in May that King Salman declined to attend.

The king is in Washington for his first White House visit since taking the throne in January.

Obama will meet with King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Friday at the White House to discuss the growing threat posed by the Islamic State, the prospect of increased Iranian aggression, and plans to contain the chaos in Yemen and Syria.

According to Bahrain, reportedly in the same blast, five of its troops had lost their lives on Friday.

War-torn Yemen is on the brink of famine, with millions of women and children most at risk of starvation as fighting around major ports stalls imports of food and other humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations.

In the latest escalation of Yemen’s five- month war, Houthi rebels said they’ve fired a Scud missile into Saudi Arabia while a Saudi official acknowledged sending forces into northern Yemen in a bid to stop border attacks.

The UAE said Semple was freed during a military intelligence operation and taken to Aden before being flown by UAE military aircraft to Abu Dhabi.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The United Arab Emirates said Sunday that its military freed a British hostage who was kidnapped 18 months ago by al-Qaida in Yemen, which has expanded its reach amid fighting between Shiite rebels and their opponents.

The claim was backed up by an independent news site, Aden al-Ghad, which blamed al Qaeda-linked insurgents for Saturday’s explosion.

Yemen has been wracked by conflict since March, when the Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes against the rebels as they advanced on the main southern city of Aden, after seizing the capital in September.