ADEN // Yemen’s prime minister Khaled Bahah led a team of top officials back to Aden on Saturday, pledging to continue restoring stability to the city.
Mr Bahah is also vice president and is the highest ranking politician to return to Yemen since Iranian-backed Houthi rebels were driven out of Aden last month.
The president, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, and his internationally recognised government had to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia this year after the Iranian-backed rebels overran the capital, Sanaa, followed by the southern port city of Aden.
Hadi loyalist forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition that includes the UAE forced the rebels out of Aden two weeks ago, and on Saturday Mr Bahah returned to the city on a Saudi military plane. He promised that “normal life” would return to a “liberated Aden” and that he would be visiting people wounded in the fighting.
Senior government officials arrived on a separate plane from Saudi Arabia. The human rights minister, Ezzedine Al Isbahi, said they would supervise work already under way to reopen public buildings and resume broadcasts at the state television and radio stations.
The interior and transport ministers had toured parts of Aden in mid-July during a brief visit to assess the damage from the fighting. They also looked at ways to fully reopen the ports and airport to allow the delivery of desperately needed relief aid supplies.
The head of the Red Crescent in Aden, Ahmed Mansur, said that the charity had received food aid from the UAE and was able to hand out 20,000 parcels to residents of three neighbourhoods.
Authorities have managed to partially reopen main roads after removing debris, including burnt out military vehicles and cars. Residents have also ventured outdoors to take stock of the damage. Some have returned from other areas of the city to find their homes devastated by the fighting.
Also on Saturday, the Egyptian government extended by six months its armed forces’ commitment to the Saudi-led coalition against the rebels.
Egypt initially authorised a 40-day mandate on March 26, and extended it for three months on May 3. It said that the purpose of the mission was to “defend Egyptian and Arab national security”.
Meanwhile, Hadi loyalist forces were pressing an advance on Saturday, north and east of Aden, to dislodge rebels who are still entrenched in the Lahj and Abyan provinces.
Coalition warplanes carried out air strikes over the weekend against rebels holed up in the strategic Al Anad airbase in Lahj province.
Strikes also targeted the southeastern province of Taez, where fighting killed 47 rebels and five pro-government forces.
Coalition warplanes also bombarded the province of Mareb east of Sanaa and the rebel stronghold of Saada in the north on Saturday.
The rebels and their allies, renegade military forces loyal to the deposed former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, remain in control of Sanaa and large swaths of the country.
The United Nations says the war has killed nearly 4,000 people, half of them civilians, and 80 per cent of the 21 million population is in need of aid and protection.
* Agence France-Presse, Reuters
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
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