Aden Airport Receives First Commercial Flight

A Yemenia Airways Airbus A320 aircraft is pictured at the Sana'a Airport March 28, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
A Yemenia Airways Airbus A320 aircraft is pictured at the Sana'a Airport March 28, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
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Aden Airport Receives First Commercial Flight

A Yemenia Airways Airbus A320 aircraft is pictured at the Sana'a Airport March 28, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo
A Yemenia Airways Airbus A320 aircraft is pictured at the Sana'a Airport March 28, 2015. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo

Yemen’s National Airline announced on Tuesday a commercial flight had landed at Aden international airport after acquiring security permits.

A Yemeni airlines official said a flight took off from Cairo and landed in Aden on Tuesday before returning to the Egyptian capital, according to Reuters.

The official said the flights would increase gradually over the coming days.

The new commercial flight came after Saudi Arabia's ambassador to UN Abdallah al-Mouallimi announced Saudi-led coalition's determination to gradually reopen some of the country’s ports and airports.

Mouallimi told reporters that the government-held ports in Aden, Mukala and al-Mokha, as well as airports in Aden, Seiyun and Socotra, would be opened very soon.

“We would like to confirm that steps are being taken by the coalition to start the process of reopening airports and sea ports in Yemen to allow for the safe transfer of humanitarian actors and humanitarian and commercial shipments,” said the Ambassador. 

Meanwhile, military sources reported that the Yemeni National Army carried out a military operation that terminated Houthis' threats against reinforcements to Taiz, south of Yemen.

Deputy spokesperson for government forces in Taiz Colonel Abdul Basit al-Bahar said the army forces cleansed al-Nasira and al-Shouhouj sites, last strategic location in Jashea mountain under insurgents control. He explained that this victory had been achieved with the support of the Saudi-led air force that raided several times on the locations.

After army forces regained control over al-Sawaleh mountain, insurgents transported their injured members to Jashea mountain, and then fled the area while the residents gathered the supplies insurgents had left behind, according to the source.

Military sources reported that army forces attacked insurgent sites in al-Kaous, Asaq, and al-Tawilah mountains in Haifan district on Monday.

Seven armed members of Houthi-Saleh militias were killed and six others injured as they tried to attack military locations, while the army units succeeded in breaking into Houthi bases at al-Khazja and al-Mafalis fronts.

Bahar confirmed that reinforcements were sent to the army on al-Kapetah and al-Maqatrah fronts of Lahj district, while plans were set in preparation for a military operation on Taiz’s southern and western fronts.

Military advancements in Taiz’s countryside coincided with the army forces’ attack on Nahim front, west of Sana’a, as the liberation of Masourah area is being planned.

In Baydah district, clashes continued between insurgents and popular resistance in az-Zahir front. The resistance proceeded to control new sites as the insurgents targeted residential areas and farms. Insurgents also continued to attack civilians through sniper fire, locals told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Political activist Ahmed al-Hamzi also told the newspaper that the popular resistance regained control over new sites in az-Zahir and Dhi Naim following fierce clashes with the insurgents.

Hamzi stated that popular resistance was backed by the coalition air force which raided insurgent sites in al-Jamajim, killing and injuring several militants and destroying a tank as well as a number of weapons and artillery.

The activist stated that Houthi-Saleh militias continue to target civilians with sniper fire. A nine-year-old, was targeted by a militia sniper while sitting in his father’s car in al-Mohsen village.

Vice President Lt-Gen Ali Mohsen Saleh visited on Tuesday the headquarters of Combat Operations Directorate in Maerib province.

He toured the directorate’s departments and was briefed on the significant functions, mechanisms and efforts made by the directorate as well as the results of several combat operations.

Mohsen, then, held a meeting with the directorate’s officers during which he lauded Saudi-led Coalition forces’ contribution and logistic and military support to rebuild the military institution and in thwarting Iran-backed coup.

He praised efforts exerted by the directorate’s leadership and staff and highlighted their significant role in coordinating battlefield operations.



Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria on Monday for talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.

"My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness," Salam said in a statement on X.

At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement.

The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings.

During Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border.

The border area, especially near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Syria’s Qusayr region, has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah fighters who backed the Assad government during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers.

Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria’s nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Human rights groups have long documented the lack of accountability and transparency regarding these cases, with families of the missing holding regular demonstrations in Beirut demanding answers.

Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Many of the detainees were arrested for illegal entry or alleged involvement in militant activity. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities.

Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government’s collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment.

In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, "most notably those involved in the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques, those convicted of assassinating President Bashir Gemayel, and other crimes for which the Assad regime is accused," Salam said.

For decades, Lebanon witnessed a long series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war.

Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon’s political assassinations.

Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.

While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns, citing ongoing security concerns and a lack of guarantees in Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria.