Loyalists retake airport in Yemen's Aden

Yemen

Forces loyal to Yemen's exiled president, backed by Saudi-led air and naval support, recaptured the airport in second city Aden Tuesday after a four-month battle with Iran-backed rebels, military sources said.

Fighting in the port city escalated as UN chief Ban Ki-Moon expressed disappointment that a UN-declared ceasefire failed to take hold over the weekend.

The retreat by the Shiite rebels came as Iran -- regarded as their main foreign supporter -- struck a historic nuclear deal with world powers that was seen as bringing the main Shiite power in from the cold but setting limits to its regional ambitions.

Leading Sunni power Saudi Arabia has been deeply concerned about Iranian influence in its impoverished southern neighbour and has led a devastating air campaign since March against the rebels and their allies in the armed forces.

Saudi-led warships pounded the rebels as they pulled back from positions in Aden they had held since forcing President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi into exile in Riyadh in March.

Hadi was personally supervising "Operation Golden Arrow for the Liberation of Aden", said his chief of staff, Mohammed Marem.

Aden airport had been in the hands of the rebels since soldiers of the 39th Armoured Brigade defected on March 25.

The Huthi rebels and their allies have since gone on to seize the presidential palace and Aden's main commercial port.

Military sources in Aden said pro-Hadi fighters were benefiting from ground support from Yemeni forces trained in Saudi Arabia, in addition to sophisticated weapons delivered by the coalition.

"Forces recently trained in Saudi Arabia are strongly participating in the fighting alongside the Popular Resistance," said one source, referring to the southern militia that has been the mainstay of support for Hadi so far.

Retaking Aden airport is the first significant achievement for pro-Hadi fighters since the embattled president fled.

The rebels overran the capital Sanaa unopposed in September and went on to seize much of the rest of the country aided by troops still loyal to Hadi's ousted predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh.