Angry protests sweep Yemen's southern City of Aden

Aden, the temporary capital of war-ravaged Yemen, has seen street demonstrations in recent days against the high fuel prices and the deterioration of public services.

In response to the popular upheaval, the Presidential Leadership Council  (PLC) head Rashad Al-Alimi, said in a short statement, that he has followed the Aden protests "with great pain and high level of attention” adding he “understands the causes and justifications" of the protests. But Alimi asked that members of the PLC be given more time to address the problems at hand.

Alimi's statement came against the background of deteriorating economic conditions in the liberated southern governorates, the rapid collapse in services, in addition to domestic political complications and indications that the Houthis are now preparing for the next round of military confrontation.

The director of the office of the South24 Centre for Studies in Aden, Yaqoub Al-Sufyani, told the media, "The Presidential Council is still about two and a half months old since its inception. It faces the same political challenges that emerged during that formation," he added, noting that these challenges include tensions within the PLC itself as well as concerns that the Houthi rebels may not stick to the recently extended UN-brokered truce.

Sufyani said that the “controversial appointment of some divisive figures, who are perceived as close to the Houthis or the Muslim Brotherhood, threatens to undermine the consensus among members of the Presidential Council".

"Despite all these challenges, it can be said that the Presidential Council has also made some progress and still enjoys the same declared regional and international support. But the Council faces political challenges in view of the Houthis' exploitation of international peacemaking efforts to re-organize and clinch favorable concessions, in preparation for the next phase of the war."

Experts believe that there is a number of security and military concerns facing the PLC. These include the challenges posed by the Houthis as well as the terrorism threat, which has seriously escalated since the council’s launch.

Suspected al-Qaida extremists on Wednesday attacked a security post in a southern Yemeni province, sparking clashes which left five troops and three militants dead, officials said. The early morning raid took place in Ataq, the capital of the mountainous province of Shabwa, the officials said. At least four other troops were wounded in the assault.