Aden Falls to Houthis, President Escapes

Aden — Yemen’s fugitive pro-West president was on the run Wednesday as Iran backed fighters from Ansarullah movement bore down on his southern stronghold following clashes that sparked warnings of civil war.

Yemeni security officials said forces allied with Shia fighters have captured Aden’s international airport, hours after the country’s embattled president fled his palace home in this southern city.

The airport’s takeover cuts off one of the last remaining routes out of Aden for President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. It also makes the fall of Aden into the hands of advancing fighters imminent.

Hadi fled Wednesday morning from the presidential compound in the palace in Aden to an undisclosed location.

Earlier a source in the presidential guard said that the Western-backed leader fled out of the country by a boat.

The Ansarullah fighters, mostly hailing from Houthi heartland up north, and their allies have seized large parts of Yemen and in recent days have been advancing on Aden, where Hadi fled after escaping house arrest in the capital Sanaa last month.

Houthi fighters ride a patrol truck in Sanaa. -Reuters

Hadi fled to Aden and withdrew his resignation on Feb 21 triggering a political turmoil in the Arab country. He was now trying to seize back power with the help of the West and neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Reports said, Ansarullah fighters entered Aden on Wednesday after detaining Hadi’s Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi and transferring him to the capital, Sana’a. 

“Subaihi was arrested in the city of Houta” in Lahij Province, Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for the movement, said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Massira television.

Air traffic was suspended at Aden’s international airport with an official saying, “Aden airport has been shut down and air traffic suspended due to the security situation.”

The latest developments come as Yemeni forces backed by Ansarullah revolutionaries seized the al-Anad air base, located about 50 kilometers north of Aden. 

A spokesman for the Ansarullah said the ongoing conflict is aimed at fighting al-Qaeda militants and the country’s former president. 

The spokesman added that the movement would respect the rights of people in southern Yemen and  named Major General Hussein Khairan as the new defense minister for the country. 

Yemen a key ally of  Washington borders oil-rich Saudi Arabia and lies close to key shipping routes.

The UN Security Council, Western countries and Gulf Arab nations have backed Hadi as the country’s legitimate ruler.

In a letter to the council on Tuesday, Hadi called for a binding UN resolution asking countries to provide immediate support “by all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter the Houthi aggression expected to occur at any hour from now” in several strategic cities, including Aden.

The Council has so far only released a declaration of support for Hadi, during an emergency meeting the president requested on Sunday.

Hadi said he had asked Gulf Cooperation Council members and other countries that belong to the Arab League to provide “immediate” support, including military intervention to help battle the pro-Iran militia.

Saudis mass troops on border

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has moved heavy military equipment to areas near its border with Yemen, according to US officials. 

Latest media reports say Washington has acquired intelligence about the Saudi buildup. One US government source has described the size of the Saudi buildup on Yemen’s border as “significant.”

The developments come as Saudi Defense Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has reportedly been ordered to erect a military base immediately along the border.

The source says the Saudis could be preparing air raids to defend former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi if Ansarullah fighters known as Houthis attack his refuge in the southern seaport of Aden.

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