Battle of Aden

The Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen on April 27 urged a main separatist group that declared self-rule in the south to rescind its move, saying it was an "escalatory action" at a time all parties should focus on confronting the novel coronavirus.

Yemen's main southern separatist group announced early on April 26 it would establish self-rule in areas under its control, which the Saudi-backed government warned would have "catastrophic consequences".

The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Aden on Aug. 11 in support of the Yemeni government after southern separatists effectively took over the port city, fracturing the alliance that had been focused on battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

A Turkish aid delegation was released by UAE-backed forces in Yemen's coastal city of Aden, according to a delegation member on Dec. 23.

The conflict in Yemen has killed nearly 7,700 people, including at least 1,564 children, since a Saudi-led coalition intervened on the government's side two years ago, U.N. agencies said March 13.

The U.N. children's agency UNICEF said that by March 10, at least 1,546 children were killed and 2,450 others maimed in Yemen.

Four Yemeni soldiers were killed in an April 17 suicide attack on a checkpoint near the international airport in the country's second city of Aden, home to a growing jihadist presence, a security official said, a day before peace talks to end a year of war were due to start.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for an explosion which killed the governor of Yemen's southern Aden province on Dec. 6.

The governor of Yemen's Aden province Jaafar Mohammed Saad was killed on Dec. 6 when a suicide bomber rammed his car into the governor's convoy in the western part of Aden city, residents and a local official said.

The Arab coalition battling Iran-backed rebels in Yemen has provided pro-government forces in the besieged city of Taez with dozens of armoured vehicles, military sources and Emirati media reported on Nov. 2. 

The Yemeni army has recruited 4,800 southern fighters following a presidential decision to integrate loyalist militiamen who helped push Iran-backed rebels out of second city Aden, a military official said Aug. 28.