Shiite rebels have seized Yemen’s third largest city, Taiz, officials said after the US announced the evacuation of remaining special forces that were involved in a drone campaign against Al-Qaeda. The Yemeni president is appealing to the UN for help.
Amid escalating violence that threatens to engulf the country,
Washington announced it would evacuate its remaining personnel
from the country, including about 100 special operations forces
that had been waging unmanned drone strikes against Al-Qaeda
militants in the region.
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Reuters, citing national security sources, said the last major US
military contingent had been stationed at the al-Annad air base
in southern Yemen, while the unmanned drones fly out of a US
military base in bordering Saudi Arabia.
State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said all remaining US
staff had been “temporarily relocated” and emphasized
Washington would “continue to actively monitor terrorist
threats emanating from Yemen and … take action to disrupt
continuing, imminent threats to the United States”.
The US pullout comes as Yemen officials said rebels from the
Ansar Allah movement had seized the country’s third largest city,
Taiz, in the south of Yemen. Residents said the rebels seized the
city’s military airport and military base from local authorities
late on Saturday.
At the same time, Houthi rebels who control Sanaa, the country’s
capital, announced general mobilization.
The US embassy last month closed its operations in Sanaa after
the Houthis took command of the capital, leading to a situation
where two rival governments in the north and south are competing
for power. The Houthis say they are fighting in order to stop the
spread of Salifism, the adherents of which command a strict
observance of Islamic teaching.
Speaking from the port city of Aden, Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu
Mansour Hadi has called on Houthis Shiite rebels to relinquish
Sanaa, which was taken last year, together with weapons and
supplies taken from the army, Reuters reported.
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In an impassioned plea to the 15-member UN Security Council, Hadi
called for a resolution to “deter the Houthi militias and
their allies” in order to “stop their aggression…and to
support the legitimate authority.”
The Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to
discuss the deteriorating situation in Yemen.
UN Special Adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, is expected to brief
the council on Sunday via video link, according to diplomats,
adding the Security Council was planning to negotiate a statement
on Yemen.
Violence continues to wrack the embattled country. On Friday, a
string of suicide bombings at Shiite Huthi mosques, claimed by
the Sunni Islamic State group, killed 142 people, while
unidentified fighter jets have targeted Hadi’s Aden offices in
recent days.