Yemeni PM returns to homeland from exile

Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr arrived in the country's temporary capital Aden on Thursday after months of exile in Saudi Arabia, a government official told Xinhua.

It is a permanent return to the homeland, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Most of Bin Daghr's cabinet members also came back to Aden, with the goal of strengthening the government-controlled provinces in closer cooperation with local authorities.

A source close to Aden's governor confirmed that the government decided to return to Aden since the security situation in the port city has become more stable.

Newly trained security forces launched several attacks against the Islamic State (IS) militants inside and around Aden over the past months, he said.

Saudi-backed Yemeni President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi issued a decree on Sunday to sack the board of the central bank and move it from the Houthi-controlled Sanaa to Aden.

Local sources said the decree came after intensive consultations between the Yemeni government and the Gulf Cooperation Coucil countries.

The economic and political situation in Yemen has deteriorated since March 2015, when war broke out between the Shiite Houthi group, supported by former President Ali Abdullash Saleh, and the government backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition.

Houthis and Saleh's forces hold most of Yemen's northern regions while government forces backed by Saudi-led military coalition share control of the rest of the country including seven southern provinces.

The civil war, ground battles and airstrikes have already killed more than 6,400 people, half of them civilians, injured more than 35,000 others and displaced over two millions, according to humanitarian agencies. Endit