ADEN: Yemen's president returned to Aden on Tuesday from exile in Saudi Arabia, a day after a military offensive was launched against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, a presidential source said.

After landing in the provisional capital, Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi went straight to the palace to “supervise” the offensive, which is aimed at retaking rebel-controlled Taez province.

His return comes just days after his prime minister, Khaled Bahah, announced the government's return to the war-torn country.

The president has tried to return before.

Mukhtar al-Rahbi, an official in Yemen's presidency, said Hadi had arrived in Aden to oversee the campaign to retake the city of Taiz, which has been battered by fighting. Medics in Tazi say more than 1,600 people have died in the city.

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“He will also meet with military officials to assess the security situation and to oversee the merging of the resistance forces into the army and security forces,” al-Rahbi said.

The coalition has made some progress on the battlefield and took control of Aden in July. But Houthis still retain control of much of Yemen, despite almost daily air bombardment.

In September, after six months exile in Saudi Arabia, Hadi and Bahah returned to Aden but had to go back to Riyadh after a deadly attack on the provisional seat of government in a hotel.

Saudi Arabia has since late March led an Arab coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies in Yemen, in support of Hadi's internationally recognised government.

The UN says that some 5,000 people, more than half of them civilians, have been killed in Yemen since the Saudi-led intervention began.