Rashad al-Alimi says government forces have retaken Hadramout and al-Mahra provinces from Southern Transitional Council.Yemen’s internationally recognised government says it has recaptured southern parts of the country from the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), whose future remains uncertain amid internal divisions and the exile of its leader.Rashad al-Alimi, chief of the Saudi Arabia-backed Presidential Leadership Council, said in a televised statement on Saturday that all contested cities had been brought under the control of government forces.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“As the president of the country and the high commander of the armed forces, I want to assure you of the recapture of Hadramout and al-Mahra,” al-Alimi said.Reporting from the Saudi capital Riyadh, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said the announcement was effectively a message of “reassurance” from the Yemeni government “that its troops are now in control of all the military bases” taken by the STC in recent weeks.“He also said that there’s going to be a conference about the future of South Yemen here in Riyadh, where all the leaders of the southern parts of Yemen will convene about the potential for a new roadmap that will put an end to the violence and instability we’ve seen,” Ahelbarra said.Al-Alimi’s address came shortly after thousands of Yemenis took to the streets in Aden to show support for the STC amid conflicting reports about the group’s purported plans to disband following deadly confrontations with Saudi-backed forces.STC supporters chanted slogans agai …
