Houthi fighters seize strategic Yemeni city of Taiz

Houthi fighters opposed to Yemen’s president took over the central city of Taiz in an escalation of a power struggle diplomats say risks drawing in neighbouring oil giant Saudi Arabia and its main regional rival, Iran.

Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, head of the powerful Shia Muslim group, vowed to pursue Sunni militants who were behind suicide attacks on Houthi supporters and said the poor Arabian peninsula country was in danger of descending into Libya-style turmoil.

In a live televised speech, Mr al-Houthi said his decision to mobilise fighters amid accelerating violence in recent days was aimed at Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for bombings that killed more than 130 in the capital, Sanaa, on Friday, and against al-Qaeda.

Conflict has been spreading across Yemen since last year when the Houthis seized Sanaa and effectively removed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is now seeking a comeback from his base in Aden.

Residents of Taiz, on a main road from the capital to Aden, said that Houthi militias took over the city’s military airport without a struggle from local authorities late on Saturday.

Military vehicles

Eyewitnesses in the central province of Ibb reported seeing dozens of tanks and military vehicles headed southward from Houthi-controlled areas toward Taiz, while activists in the city said Houthi gunmen shot into the air to disperse protests by residents demonstrating against their presence.

The advance of the Iranian-backed group has angered Sunni Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi expansion into mostly Sunni areas in the centre and west has led to months of clashes with local tribes and al-Qaeda, raising fears that the heavily armed country might descend into civil war.

Iran called for dialogue, but suggested that Mr Hadi should leave to spare the country further bloodshed.

“The expectation is that . . . Hadi will resign rather than repeat mistakes, to play a constructive role in preventing the break-up of Yemen and the transformation of Aden into a terrorist haven,” said Iran’s deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, according to state news agency IRNA.

But Gulf Arab leaders and security officials on Saturday said Mr Hadi was Yemen’s legitimate ruler and they were ready to make “all efforts” to defend the country’s security.

“Yemen is sliding into a dark tunnel which would have serious consequences not only on Yemen but on security and stability in the region,” the officials, who included Saudi interior minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, said.

“The security of Yemen and of the GCC countries is an indivisible whole,” it added.

On Sunday, anti-aircraft guns opened fire at an unidentified plane flying over Mr Hadi’s compound in Aden, witnesses said, in the third incident of its kind since last Thursday.

US officials said Washington had evacuated its remaining personnel from Yemen because of worsening security, marking a setback in US efforts against a powerful al-Qaeda branch.

The Houthis are allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, still influential in the military despite having given up power in 2011 after mass protests against his rule. The Yemeni army has varied loyalties, with most units being controlled by the Houthis or Saleh, while some are loyal to Mr Hadi. – (Reuters)