Shiite rebels

Aden's airport chief Tarek Abdu Ali says Yemen Prime Minister Khaled Bahah landed in Aden with six ministers on Saturday.

A Yemeni official says Bahah will chair a Cabinet meeting later Saturday that will be attended by seven other government ministers already in Aden. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists.

The witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said al-Qaida made the captured Houthi fighters, who were in their early 20s, kneel and kiss their hands before shooting them Wednesday afternoon in Dar Saad.

A witness said one of the rebels begged to be spared, saying he was the sole supporter of his family. But the witness said an al-Qaida fighter responded "Shut up, you dog," before he and the others shouted Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) and opened fire.

The violence highlighted the bloody chaos of the civil war gripping the Arab world's poorest country, which also has been the target of Saudi-led, U.S.-backed airstrikes since late March.

A leader with the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, denied shelling Dar Saad, a town just north of Aden and long home to fighters resisting their advances. But Yemeni medical officials and a doctor with an international aid organization said the shelling clearly came from the north and east of Dar Saad — areas under rebel control.

Residents said armored vehicles and troops have deployed in the neighborhoods of Crater and Mualla, where fighting had intensified earlier as part of an offensive to regain control of the port city from the Shiite rebels and allied forces.

A military official said fighting intensified Wednesday in Crater and Mualla, neighborhoods that house the presidential palace, government offices and ports. The official said the rebels are putting up a fight at the presidential palace in Crater. He said an airstrike hit a government building used by the rebels as a base.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations. He said the anti-rebel offensive was coordinated with the Saudi-led coalition.

A military official said fighting intensified Wednesday in Crater and Mualla, neighborhoods that house the presidential palace, government offices and ports. The official said the rebels are putting up a fight at the presidential palace in Crater. He said an airstrike hit a government building used by the rebels as a base.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations. He said the anti-rebel offensive was coordinated with the Saudi-led coalition.

The rebels, known as Houthis, say the early Monday strike hit the Sawan neighborhood in eastern Sanaa.

Smoke billowed from the slum area, which lies hundreds of meters (yards) from a military camp used by the rebels.

Airstrikes and ground fighting in Yemen have continued for the third day despite a U.N.-brokered truce between the rebels and the internationally-backed government in exile and its allies.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists, say that warplanes hit at least eight other Yemeni provinces on Thursday.

In Sanaa, the airstrikes also hit several houses of military leaders loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is allied with the Houthis.

The rebel-held Ministry of Interior says the raids in Sanaa killed 8 people, without specifying whether they were civilians.