The Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement and its allies have announced the forming of a new “national salvation” government.
According to Yemeni news sources on Monday, the new government will be led by the former governor of Aden, Abdul Aziz Bin Habtoor, and is tasked with the administration of country’s internal affairs and dealing with Saudi Arabia’s relentless aggression against the impoverished nation.
It will be comprised of 35 ministers, including seven state ministers and three deputy prime ministers.
The new government is set to replace the Supreme Political Council, which was established by the Houthis and the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh earlier in the year.
The Ansarullah movement has stressed that the new body’s establishment will not hinder the UN-brokered peace talks, the last round of which ended in deadlock in August.
Meanwhile, at least four civilians were killed by Saudi artillery fire on residential areas in the town of Shida in Sa’ada province. According to Yemeni media three of the dead were children.
Several homes and farms were also destroyed as Saudi troops targeted the nearby town of Zahir with artillery and missile fire.
The Saudi campaign began in March 2015 in a bid to crush the Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstate the former Yemeni administration. The war has left at least 11,400 civilians dead, according to a latest tally by a Yemeni monitoring group.