Houthis retreating, ‘turning point’ predicted in Yemen

ADEN: Senior members of Yemen’s exiled administration flew into Aden yesterday to make preparations for the government’s return, an official said, three months after being pushed out by the armed Houthi group.

The visit by ministers and intelligence officials follows military setbacks for the Houthis at the hands of Saudibacked Yemeni fighters, which may mark a turning point in the conflict that has killed more than 3 500 people.

The southern port city of Aden has been the focus of fighting since the Houthis first laid siege to it in March when it was home to the government, which subsequently fled to Saudi Arabia.

“(Exiled President) Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi delegated this group to return to Aden to work to prepare the security situation and ensure stability ahead of a revival of the institutions of state in Aden,” a local official told Reuters after the group arrived by helicopter at a military air base.

The delegation included the ministers of the interior and transport, a former interior minister, the intelligence chief and the deputy head of the house of representatives.

Local fighters have wrested Yemen’s airport and main seaport from the northern militia group in the past two days, in fighting that killed dozens of people, according to medics.

The Shia Muslim Houthis seized Sanaa in September and pushed into Yemen’s south and east in March and April in what they say is a revolution against a corrupt government and hardline Sunni Muslim militants.

In a statement posted on Houthi-controlled state media, the group said it was weathering the Aden offensive, which has been supported by 150 air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition that seeks to return exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power.

Houthi forces fired Katyusha rockets at the Aden oil refinery west of the city, detonating an oil tank and causing a huge blaze, witnesses and officials said.

Arab coalition ships and warplanes bombed trucks carrying Houthi reinforcements towards the city, local fighters said. Arab countries, particularly the UAE, have shipped around 100 armoured vehicles to the war effort, they said. – Reuters