ADEN, Dec 1 (NNN-XINHUA) – Scores of people gathered on Saturday, to mark and celebrate the anniversary of the national independence day, in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden.
The public celebration was organised by the Aden-based Southern Transitional Council (STC), to mark the 52nd anniversary of the 129 years of occupation of the country’s south by British troops, which ended on Nov 30, 1967.
Citizens from different neighbourhoods of Aden and neighbouring southern provinces attended the celebration, that took place on a main street in the strategic city.
Teams of the cultural department in Aden participated in the celebration and performed a number of traditional styles in the area.
Ahmed Jalal, one of the celebration’s organisers, said, people in the south of Yemen attended, to celebrate the departure of the British from their regions, amid hopes to achieve a noticeable change in the future.
“During this occasion, the people in the south are still aspiring to get better living conditions, to change their lives into more development, away from the recent crises,” he said.
In Aug, forces loyal to the Aden-based STC engaged in intense street fighting with government forces, over control of Aden and other neighbouring provinces.
The STC seized all state institutions, after defeating the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and Yemen’s government, to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocrat cabinet of no more than 24 ministers.
The main points of the deal also included the return of the exiled Yemeni government to Aden, and the unification of all military units under the authority of the ministries of interior and defence.
The Saudi-brokered deal excluded the Iranian-backed Houthis, who are still controlling the capital, Sanaa and other northern provinces of the country.– NNN-XINHUA