Yemen govt says Aden 'liberated' but fighting persists

Yemen

Yemen's exiled government announced Friday the "liberation" of second cityAden after four months of devastating fighting between loyalist forces and Iran-backed rebels.

But rebels continued to control some districts of the city, witnesses said, adding that fighting was underway 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, referring to the holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"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 Huthi rebels, who seized control of much of Aden in March, forcing the government into exile in neighbouring 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 oil-rich kingdom leads a coalition of Arab countries that has been waging an air campaign against the rebels and renegade troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Aden was President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's last refuge after he fled the capital earlier this year as the rebels took over the government and launched an offensive in which they seized much of the country.

Swathes of the city have been reduced to rubble by the four months of ferocious fighting.