Yemen's PM returns to Aden; Saudi airstrikes kill civilians

SANAA, Yemen - The Associated Press

Yemen's Prime Minister and Vice President Khaled Bahah gestures as he attends a news conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE January 19, 2016. REUTERS Photo

The Yemeni prime minister and his Cabinet returned on Jan. 25 to the volatile southern port city of Aden, months after he was targeted in a suicide bombing that forced them to leave the country.

Khaled Bahah's return is aimed at establishing a permanent government presence in Aden, officials in his office said, even as the country is torn apart by civil war. The officials didn't provide more information.
     
Yemen has been torn by conflict since 2014, when Shiite rebels known as Houthis and allied with a former president captured large swaths of the country, including the capital, Sanaa, which they took in September that year.
     
In March 2015, a coalition of mainly Gulf Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against the Houthis and later, a ground operation to retake back ground from the rebels. More than 5,800 people have been killed and over 80 percent of Yemen's population is in dire need of food, water and other aid, according to the United Nations.
     
Also on Jan. 25, a missile fired by the Saudi-led coalition killed a judge and his entire family - eight people in all - in Sanaa's neighborhood of Nahda, security officials said. The judge was a known Houthi supporter.
     
And in the northern Jawf province, more than 20 fighters on both sides of the Yemeni conflict died in fierce clashes, security and tribal officials said. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to speak to reporters.