Militia fighters attack Yemen president’s home, seize palace

SANAA: Militia fighters attacked Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi’s residence and seized the presidential palace on Tuesday in what officials said was a bid to overthrow his embattled government.
As the UN Security Council began an emergency meeting over the unrest, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was “gravely concerned” and called for an immediate halt to the fighting.
The past two days have seen a dramatic escalation in violence in Sanaa, raising fears that Hadi’s government, a key US ally in its fight against al-Qaeda, will collapse and the country will descend into chaos. Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf said the militiamen, known as Huthis, had launched an attack on Hadi’s residence, after witnesses reported clashes had erupted at the building in western Sanaa. He was earlier reported to have been in the residence meeting with his advisers and security officials.
“The Yemeni president is under attack by militiamen who want to overthrow the regime,” Sakkaf said on Twitter.
Witnesses said the fighting outside the residence appeared to have subsided after two soldiers were killed.
A military official told AFP the militiamen had also seized the presidential palace in southern Sanaa, where Hadi’s offices are located. “The Huthi militiamen have entered the complex and are looting its arms depots,” the official said.
Prominent Huthi member Ali al-Bukhaiti said on Facebook that the fighters “have taken control of the presidential complex”.
In New York, Ban urged “all sides to immediately cease all hostilities, exercise maximum restraint, and take the necessary steps to restore full authority to the legitimate government institutions.”
The fresh unrest shattered a ceasefire agreed after a bloody day on Monday that saw the Huthis, who overran Sanaa in September, tighten their grip on the capital. Huthi fighters and government troops fought pitched battles near the presidential palace and in other parts of Sanaa, leaving at least nine people dead and 67 wounded.
The militia seized an army base overlooking the presidential palace, took control of state media and opened fire on a convoy carrying the prime minister from Hadi’s residence.
Prime Minister Khalid Bahah escaped to his residence, where he has lived since taking office in October, and it was surrounded late on Monday by the Huthis.