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Yemen's exiled gov't announces "liberation" of Aden

Xinhua, July 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Yemen's exiled government announced on Friday that Saudi-backed fighters have fully controlled the southern port city of Aden after days of battles with the Shiite Houthi militia.

"We congratulate all our people at home and abroad for what has been achieved during the last two days ... the government announces the liberation of Aden on July 17," Vice President Khaled Bahah said on his official Facebook page.

"It is the first step to liberate the whole country," he added.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was ousted last September after the Shiite Houthi group controlled the capital Sanaa.

He fled to Aden, the temporary capital as he declared, in late February after weeks of house arrest, and has been taking refuge with his cabinet in the Saudi capital Riyadh since March 26 when the Houthis were besieging Aden city.

The Saudi-led coalition forces have been bombarding the Houthis and their ally, forces loyal to Yemen's forces President Ali Abdullash Saleh, since March 26, aiming to reinstate Hadi.

Security sources told Xinhua that thousands of soldiers who were trained in Gulf countries have launched attacks in the past few days, with support of warplanes and warships of the Saudi-led coalition, against the Houthis in the southern port city of Aden.

On Thursday, they managed to seize the Aden international airport and Tawahi district where Hadi's presidential palace and intelligence headquarters were located, sources said.

A senior government official in Aden told Xinhua on Thursday night that 90 percent of Aden is in the hand of Saudi-backed fighters, while the Houthis are negotiating a safe exit from the rest 10 percent areas.

The Houthi officials cannot be reached for the comment.

After more than three months of airstrikes and civil war, humanitarian disaster emerged in Yemen as about 80 percent of its 24 million population are in need of aid. More than 3,000 people have been killed and more than one million displaced.

The United Nations announced a ceasefire last week that was expected to last through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan until July 17.

It aimed to allow delivery of aid to Yemeni cities that are desperately short of food, medicine and other necessities. However, no warring parties are abided by the truce. Endit