Aden|Xinhua | Scores of people gathered on Saturday to mark and celebrate the anniversary of the national independence day in Yemen's southern port city of Aden.

The public celebration was organized by the Aden-based Southern Transitional Council (STC) to mark the 52nd anniversary of the 129 years of occupation of the country's south by the British troops, which ended on November 30, 1967.

Citizens from different neighborhoods of Aden and neighboring southern provinces attended the celebration that took place on a main street in the strategic city.

Teams of the cultural department in Aden participated in the celebration and performed a number of traditional styles in the area.

Ahmed Jalal, one of the celebration's organizers, told Xinhua that people in the southern provinces of Yemen attended to celebrate the departure of the British from their regions amid hopes to achieve a noticeable change in the future.

"During this occasion, the people in southern regions are still aspiring to get better living conditions to change their lives into more development away from the recent crises," he said.

| The people in southern regions are still aspiring to get better living conditions to change their lives into more development away from the recent crises

In August, forces loyal to the Aden-based STC engaged in intense street fighting with the government forces over the control of Aden and other neighboring southern provinces.

The STC seized all the state institutions after defeating the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces during Aden battles.

Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and Yemen's government to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocrat cabinet of no more than 24 ministers earlier this month.

The main points of the deal also included the return of the exiled Yemeni government to Aden and the unification of all military units under the authority of the ministries of interior and defense.

The Saudi-brokered deal excluded the Iranian-backed Houthis who are still controlling the capital Sanaa and other northern provinces of the war-torn Arab country.

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.