It is encouraging that the leadership of Yemen’s legitimate government is returning to the country, and playing its proper role by restoring the authority of the government in liberated areas. The latest event was a visit by Khaled Bahah, Vice-President and Prime Minister, who arrived on Saturday with six government ministers to see what was happening in government-controlled Aden, a few weeks after it was recaptured from Al Houthi rebels. The visit has an extra significance as Bahah is expected to take a dynamic role in Yemen’s future government once normal rule is restored.
The rebel forces were defeated by fighters from the Popular Resistance movement based in south Yemen, who were operating in cooperation with the Saudi-led regional coalition which is fighting to support the government against the Al Houthis. The fighting continues across the country, and recent attempts by the government and coalition to have a short truce for humanitarian aid have come to nothing in the face of Al Houthi intransigence. The latest government advance is building on the military success in Aden as soldiers retake the town of Zanjibar to the west of Aden. While obviously looking ahead to the campaign to defeat Al Houthis, Bahah’s trip also focused on more immediate humanitarian issues as more than a year of war has left large parts of the population close to starvation. Renewed government control has allowed humanitarian aid to start to move, and Bahah’s trip coincided with the World Food Programme delivering desperately needed aid in Aden, as it distributed aid to almost 340,000 people in the city’s worst affected areas.
