Yemen's President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi walks into a Saudi center for the coordination of humanitarian resistance for Yemen in Riyadh, Tuesday. — Reuters
ADEN — The exiled Yemeni government has issued an order for militiamen fighting alongside loyalist troops against Shiite rebels be merged into the armed forces, as clashes raged Wednesday in the country's south. The supreme defense council, which met in Riyadh Tuesday, decided to "assimilate members of the Popular Resistance into the units of the armed forces and security forces," the government-run news agency said. The meeting, headed by President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi, took the decision to reward them for their "brave contribution to defending the homeland." Popular Resistance units were formed when the Iran-backed rebels and their allies advanced on southern regions after they had overran the capital in September. Meanwhile, clashes raged in the south, where pro-government forces expanded their area of control after recapturing the port of Aden, Yemen's second city, after four months of fighting. The loyalists pushed back rebels in Lahoum, on Aden's northern outskirts, following heavy fighting in which 12 rebels were killed, military sources said. Three pro-Hadi fighters were killed and dozens wounded, medical sources said. The area lies on the road to Lahj, where loyalists have been tightening the noose on rebels, with the aim of recapturing the strategic Al-Anad airbase. The clashes further evidenced the failure to take hold of a five-day truce declared from midnight Sunday by the Saudi-led, pro-government Arab coalition to allow the delivery of desperately needed relief supplies. Ahead of the unilateral ceasefire, UN chief Ban Ki-moon made a plea for all sides to "agree to and maintain the humanitarian pause for the sake of all the Yemeni people". The UN's aid chief Stephen O'Brien urged the Security Council to redouble efforts to secure a pause in the conflict, which he said had "brought appalling damage on the people". — Agencies
