Houthi militants and people gather at the site of a Saudi-led air strike in Yemen's capital Sanaa July 16, 2015.
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 Saudi-backed Yemeni fighters which may mark a turning point in the conflict that has killed more than 3,000 people.
The southern port city of Aden has been a focus of fighting since the Houthis first laid siege to it in March when it was home to the government which fled to Saudi Arabia.
“(Exiled President) Abdrabuh Mansur 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 said 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.
By afternoon, Saudi-backed militiamen battled their way into the centre of Crater district of Aden, the spokesman for anti-Houthi forces in the city said.
“The Popular Resistance ... entered the Maidan area in the heart of Crater and are in the process of clearing the streets of remaining Houthi elements,” Ali Al Ahmedi said, adding dozens had been killed on both sides.
The Houthis seized Sana’a 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 militants.
In a statement on Houthi-controlled state media, the group said it was weathering the Aden offensive, supported by air strikes by a Saudi-led coalition.
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.
The UAE said one of its soldiers had been killed fighting with Saudi-led forces in Yemen. Residents said they were starting to clear rubble and piles of trash in the districts. Agencies
