Yemen to merge 'resistance' fighters with army

Saudi soldiers stand on top of armor vehicles, on the border with Yemen at a military point in Najran, Saudi Arabia

Aden - The meeting, headed by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, took the decision to reward them for their "brave contribution to defending the homeland."

By AFP

Published: Wed 29 Jul 2015, 2:26 PM

Last updated: Wed 29 Jul 2015, 4:29 PM

The exiled Yemeni government has issued an order for militiamen fighting alongside loyalist troops against rebels be merged into the armed forces, as clashes raged Wednesday in the country's south.
The supreme defence council, which met in Riyadh on 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 Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, took the decision to reward them for their "brave contribution to defending the homeland."
Popular Resistance units were formed when the 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 on Sunday by the Saudi-led, pro-government Arab coalition to allow the delivery of desperately needed relief supplies.
Four months of fighting has left 3,984 people dead, nearly half of them civilians, according to the United Nations.