Yemen president returns to Aden after 6-month exile

ADEN, Yemen – President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi returned to war-torn Yemen Tuesday, September 22, after 6 months in exile in Saudi Arabia, joining government ministers in the southern city of Aden, an airport official said.

Hadi, who is recognised by the international community, arrived on board a Saudi military aircraft that landed at an airbase adjoining Aden’s civilian airport, the security official told Agence France-Presse.

Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and several government ministers returned last week to the port city, which was retaken from Shiite Huthi rebels in mid-July.

Hadi’s arrival comes a day after thousands of rebel sympathisers thronged the capital Sanaa to celebrate a year since its seizure.

The rebels have seized much of Yemen with the help of renegade troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A Saudi-led coalition launched a bombing campaign against the Iran-backed rebels on March 26.

The coalition expanded its military campaign into a ground operation in July, but the rebels still control much of north and central Yemen.

Since then, the Huthis have lost five southern provinces to Hadi loyalists, and are waging an offensive in Marib province east of the capital.

The United Nations says nearly 4,900 people have been killed since late March in Yemen. The UN aid chief has called the scale of human suffering “almost incomprehensible.” – Rappler.com