Coalition forces pledge to stabilize Aden, other cities

JEDDAH: The Saudi led-coalition fighting to reinstate Yemen’s exiled government aims first to set it up in Aden and then return it to Sanaa if possible via peace talks with Houthi foes, a coalition spokesman said.
But if the Iranian-allied Houthis did not eventually agree to quit Sanaa, the government would have the right to “get them out” by force, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Al-Assiri said.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition allied with southern Yemeni fighters retook much of Aden recently in the first significant ground victory of their campaign to end Houthi terrorosts’ control over much of Yemen and restore President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government.
Yemeni forces backed up by Saudi-led air strikes have recaptured positions on Aden’s outskirts used by Houthis to fire rockets into the city, local officials said on Thursday.
Senior members of Yemen’s administration flew into Aden on July 16 to make preparations for the government’s return to the major southern port, four months after it was pushed out by Houthi forces.
Al-Assiri said the first task was to secure Aden so the government could operate from there for the moment.
“Aden was the first step. Now the government will start rebuilding their military capability, their security capability, the stability in cities,” he said, and this would need time.
“We believe that going surely, step by step, if the Houthis get out of Sanaa through peace talks, then this is important.
“But if they keep controlling (Sanaa), I think the legitimate government has the right to get them out of Sanaa.”
Sanaa is in northern Yemen and has been frequently bombed by Saudi-led warplanes over the past four months.
Al-Assiri said the Houthis ought to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2216, which calls for the movement to withdraw from cities under their control, return seized arms and allow Hadi to return from his Riyadh exile. The Houthis have rejected that resolution.