Dubai: Fighters from Yemens Ansarullah movement swept into the strategic central city of Taiz ahead of a United Nations meeting on the deteriorating situation in the country, local officials said.
Fighters also known as Houthis captured several state facilities in Taiz, including the citys airport, airbase and a court complex, they added.
Houthi forces also took control of the citys central prison Saturday night and set up checkpoints near the prison, an official confirmed.
Taiz, located some 255 kilometres south of the capital Sanaa, is the access point to Yemens southern part, where fugitive President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi set up his base after fleeing Sanaa.
In September, the Houthis seized Sanaa and have since controlled much of northern Yemen. The Al Houthis have vowed to retaliate against forces loyal to Hadi after at least 142 worshippers were killed in three suicide bombings on mosques in Sanaa on Friday.
Ansarullah soldiers seized the airport in Taiz and set up checkpoints in the city, Salah Noman, an anti-Houthi activist, said by phone. The US evacuated all remaining personnel in the country due to the deteriorating security, State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke said in an e-mailed statement.
Britain evacuates special forces
Britain has evacuated its last special forces from Yemen because of the deteriorating security situation there, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday, following reports that the United States had done the same.
Britain withdrew staff from its embassy in Yemen last month and temporarily suspended operations there over security concerns.
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the extraction of special forces had occurred in recent days. The Ministry of Defense said it never commented on such matters.
U.S. officials said on Saturday that the United States had evacuated its own remaining personnel, including about 100 special operations forces, from Yemen because of the deteriorating security situation there.
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