Yemen Govt Claims to Have Retaken Southern Capital of Aden

Separatists had taken capital earlier this month

According to the Yemeni Information Ministry, forces loyal to the Hadi government have totally retaken the city of Aden. Aden is the historic capital of South Yemen, and the government views it as the de facto capital of all of Yemen since they don’t control Sanaa.

The government lost Aden on August 10, when the Southern Transitional Council (STC) separatists took over the presidential palace, and later the entire city. They subsequently took over a number of surrounding areas as well.

Over the past week, government forces and their allies have attacked and retaken virtually all of the lost territory from the STC. The precipitous gains and subsequent losses reflect how tentative the control of the foreign-backed invaders’ territory actually is.

It’s unclear where this leaves the Saudi-backed forces, with their fighters split roughly in half by this war, and it’s not at all clear the two sides will come back together to continue the war, or if there will just continue to be a second Yemen War in the south.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.