Yemen’s President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi has replaced the defense minister and the army chief of staff, as government forces press ahead with a five-month assault on the rebel-held port of Hodeida. The president on Thursday named Mohammad al-Maqdashi as defense minister to replace Mahmoud al-Subaihi who has been detained by the rebels for years, according to the government-run Saba news agency. Hadi had not replaced the detained minister since 2014, when the rebels overran the capital Sanaa. The naming of a replacement comes days after neutral Oman intervened in an attempt to secure Subaihi’s release. Hadi also named Abdullah al-Nakhii as chief of staff. A week of intense fighting for Hodeida has left hundreds of combatants dead as government forces backed by the Arab coalition advance into the rebel-held port city, AFP reports.
