Yemeni military officials say troops fail to take control of rebel-held

The government announced it had “liberated” the southern port city, while witnesses said rebels still controlled a district where fighting continues.

Once one of the world’s busiest ports, Aden sits near the Bab al-Mandab shipping lane, a major energy gateway for Europe, Asia and the United States via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

Cennet/SANAA Local unit and military forces in Yemen have wrested couple of navy officials from Houthi forces instantly, tenants and authorities said, developing throughout the seven days of beneficial properties from the nation’s influential section.

Aden was Hadi s last refuge after he fled the capital Sanaa earlier this year as the rebels took over the government and launched an offensive in which they seized much of the country.

The minister said that the Al Houthis had been pushed out of the city, except for “few besieged groups that are refusing to surrender”.

But rebels continued to control some districts of the city, witnesses said, adding that fighting was underway in central areas of the southern port.

Warplanes from a Saudi-led Arab coalition have kept up the air campaign launched in March in support of Hadi and against the Huthis and renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Fighters against Shiite rebels known as Houthis gather at a street…

Senior exiled officials arrived in Aden from Saudi Arabia on Friday to prepare for the return of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government.

Officials in the anti-Houthi forces say the offensive was planned for weeks.

In a step aimed at restoring security and stability to Aden, the exiled government has “reopened all police departments in Aden and formed a special force to pursue criminals and the remaining [Houthi] rebels”, Major General Ja’afar Mohamed Sa’ad, a Hadi advisor, told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The loyalist counteroffensive came after the failure of a UN-declared truce that was supposed to have taken effect last weekend to allow the delivery of desperately needed relief supplies”.

More than 21.1 million people – over 80 percent of Yemen’s population – need aid, with 13 million facing food shortages.

Four months of fighting and air strikes have killed more than 3,200 people in Yemen.

Interior Minister Abdo al-Huzeifi said he and the transport minister – accompanied by several security officers – arrived Saturday night, after they had spent months exiled in Saudi Arabia.