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Shia rebels seize Yemen's third largest city, say military
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Shia rebels backed by supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have taken over the country’s third largest city of Taiz and its airport, according to Yemeni security and military officials.
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The seizure on Sunday comes a day after the rebels, known as Houthis, called for a general mobilisation against forces loyal to the embattled president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Hadi had just given a defiant speech challenging the Houthis, his first public address since fleeing the capital and establishing a base in the southern city of Aden last month.
Brig Gen Hamoud al-Harathi, the commander of special forces units based in Taiz, rejected Hadi’s legitimacy as president. Meanwhile, thousands demonstrated in Taiz against both the Houthis and Saleh.
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Meanwhile, anti-aircraft guns opened fire at an unidentified plane flying over President Hadi’s compound in the southern city of Aden.
It was the third incident of its kind in the past four days, in which aircraft have flown over the compound where Hadi is based, on one occasion dropping bombs without causing any casualties.
Aden’s governor, Abdulaziz bin Habtoor, has accused the Shia Muslim Houthi movement of being behind the flights, an allegation the Iran-allied group, which controls much of the north of the country, has yet to address.
Yemen has descended into civil war since last year when the Houthis seized, Sana’a, the largest city in Yemen, and removed Hadi from effective control of the state. The Houthis then advanced into Sunni Muslim areas, leading to clashes with local tribes and al Qaeda.
On Saturday, Hadi, who fled to Aden from Sanaa last month, accused the Houthis of staging a coup against him and appealed to the United Nations for “urgent intervention”.
