Aden liberation doubles Yemen Eid joy

ADEN: Yemen’s exiled government announced Friday the “liberation” of second city Aden after four months of devastating fighting between loyalist forces and Iran-backed rebels.
But the rebels continued to control some districts of the city, witnesses said, adding that fighting was under way in central areas of the southern port. “The government announces the liberation of the province of Aden on the first day of Eid Al-Fitr which falls on July 17,” Vice President Khaled Bahah said on Facebook.
“We will work to restore life in Aden and all the liberated cities, to restore water and electricity,” said Bahah, who is also prime minister.
A government statement confirmed the liberation of Aden province. On Tuesday, loyalist forces launched Operation Golden Arrow against the Shiite Houthi rebels, who seized control of much of Aden in March, forcing the government into exile in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
The counteroffensive was carried out by southern militiamen of the Popular Resistance, backed by reinforcements freshly trained and equipped in Saudi Arabia.
The government’s official news agency said loyalist forces had mopped up the last pockets of rebel resistance in the city’s Mualla district Thursday. They secured the airport and the surrounding Khormaksar diplomatic district earlier this week.
Clashes are raging on the edges of Mualla, which leads into Tawahi, they said.
Fighters backing President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi “are trying to advance toward Tawahi but they are facing resistance,” said one witness.
Five civilians and seven southern fighters were killed in Mualla and Crater districts, medical sources said.
Journalist Radfan Al-Dubiss, who heads the South Voice local radio station, was also wounded when a bullet hit him in the head, an AFP correspondent reported.
In an Eid speech, Hadi paid tribute to loyalist fighters and vowed that Aden would be the stepping stone to victory nationwide.
“Aden will be the key to Yemen’s salvation,” Hadi said in the speech broadcast late Thursday. “From Aden we will regain all of Yemen.”