Yemen appoints new prime minister after cabinet resigned, council says

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak came to prominence in 2015 after he was kidnapped by the Houthis.

 People detained by the Houthis ride a bus during their release in Sanaa, Yemen January 25, 2025.  (photo credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS)
People detained by the Houthis ride a bus during their release in Sanaa, Yemen January 25, 2025.
(photo credit: KHALED ABDULLAH/REUTERS)

Yemen has appointed Salem Saleh Bin Braikas, who served as finance minister in the previous cabinet, as prime minister, the presidential council said in a statement on Saturday.

Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, prime minister of Yemen's internationally recognized government, said he had resigned after facing "many difficulties" including being unable to reshuffle the government.

He had clashed with Rashad Al-Alimi, head of Yemen's presidential council, over his powers after the latter refused Mubarak's request to dismiss 12 of the government's ministers, six government sources told Reuters.

Mubarak was appointed premier in February 2024 after serving as foreign minister. He came to prominence in 2015 when he was kidnapped by Houthi militiamen while serving as Yemen's presidential chief of staff during the Houthis' conflict with then-president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. 

 Smoke billows from the site of a US air strike in Sanaa, Yemen April 26, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/KHALED ABDULLAH)
Smoke billows from the site of a US air strike in Sanaa, Yemen April 26, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/KHALED ABDULLAH)

US heightens airstrikes in Yemen 

The US has been intensifying airstrikes to destroy Houthi military assets and deter the Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen including its main population centers in the north and west, from targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

The deadly strikes on the group since March have been the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

Yemen has been embroiled in civil war for over a decade. The Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014 and ousted the recognized government, forcing it to relocate to the southern port of Aden.