United Nations envoy: Yemen peace talks set for Dec 15 in Switzerland

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a powerful vehicle bomb that killed the provincial governor in the southern port of Aden early Sunday, raising concerns that hard-line Sunni militants were gaining a foothold in one of Yemen’s largest cities.

He said these forces are “doomed to fail” and the will of the Yemeni people will prevail to expose what he described as “ugly obscurantist faces” and any parties backing them.

Hadi’s supporter say Houthi forces are besieging the city of Taiz, north of Aden.

“Aden rejects any foreign groups and ideology that is outlandish for our country and society”, the Yemeni president added. Since then, Hadi and other officials in his government have returned to the city, making it their base of operations while the Houthis remain in control of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.

On Saturday, masked gunmen on motorcycles carried out separate attacks on vehicles in Aden, killing Col. Aqeel Al-Khodr, a military intelligence official, and Judge Mohsen Alwan, who was known for sentencing Al-Qaeda militants.

Saad had been a general in the army of the former southern Yemen before the Marxist state merged with northern Yemen in 1990.

It also claimed the killing of 50 soldiers in a November ambush in southeastern Hadramawt province and threatened more attacks in its statement today.

Even as the daily fighting in Aden has subsided, the city remains insecure.

Peace talks between Yemen’s warring sides will open in Switzerland on December 15 to try to end the nine-month conflict, the United Nations envoy said on Monday.

Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed met Mr Hadi to seek his agreement to convene negotiations with the rebels in Geneva next week, an official close to the president said.

“But this mission will be hard”, said the source, accusing the rebels of dragging their feet on implementing UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls for them to withdraw from occupied territory.

Yemen’s minister in charge of human rights, Ezzedine al-Isbahi, condemned the “massacres and atrocities” in Taez. The group said it had killed eight of Saad’s bodyguards.

A Saudi-led military coalition that supports Hadi began an aerial bombing campaign against the Houthis in March.