Yemen imposes curfew after 'IS' violence
January 4, 2016
Yemeni authorities announced the curfew would be imposed in Aden from 8 pm on Monday until 5 am on Tuesday, shortly after the city's security officials held an emergency meeting on Sunday.
The announcement follows a spate of violence this past weekend blamed on the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) terrorist group. Fighting raged across the contested port city on Sunday, leaving at least 17 people killed, many of them members of the government's security forces.
According to officials, the fighting erupted after security forces were deployed to Aden, whereupon they clashed with anti-government militants. According to one official, the city has since been taken by fighters loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Ongoing strife
Aden has been at the center of months of clashes between Hadi's forces and militant groups such as IS and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which infiltrated the city following a takeover by Houthi rebels in September. Following the outbreak of war, Hadi fled the former capital of Sana'a and declared the port city the temporary capital.
In December, the government met with Houthi representatives in the Swiss city of Biel to negotiate a ceasefire. Even though a ceasefire did technically go into effect, fighting persisted on the ground, and on Saturday, a coalition of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia announced an end to the ceasefire.
The warring factions are slated to meet on January 14 for further talks, although it's still not clear how current tensions will impact that meeting.
blc/jil (Reuters, AFP)