ADEN, Yemen, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Heavy military reinforcements of the Saudi-led Arab coalition arrived in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Sunday, a local government official told Xinhua.
The Aden-based official said on condition of anonymity that "additional Saudi troops arrived as a new military reinforcement to secure the state institutions and the country's presidential palace in Aden."
He said that the Saudi forces backed by tanks and modern military vehicles arrived at the oil port in Buraigah district in Aden's western part.
"Around 45 military vehicles with many soldiers were deployed around the international airport of Aden and around other key state institutions including the presidential palace," he added.
The elite Saudi troops will participate in securing the strategic port city of Aden after signing the power-sharing deal between the Yemeni government and the Southern Transitional Council (STC), according to the official.
A Yemeni military source said that Saudi Arabia recently took command of the coalition forces in Aden and started deployment of its military units in the neighboring provinces.
The source said that Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi might return to Aden during the upcoming weeks to implement Riyadh deal and start consultations to form a new technocrat government equally with the STC.
Earlier in the day, the Saudi-led coalition involved in a war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen announced that its forces have been repositioned in Aden.
The move was made to coordinate military and security operation plans and enhance humanitarian and relief action in Yemen, the coalition said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
The move will also strengthen the efforts to secure waterways adjacent to Yemeni coastlines, the statement added.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country and seized all northern areas including the capital Sanaa.
