1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites

Houthi rebels advance on Aden as Hadi flees

March 25, 2015

Washington has announced that Yemen's president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, "is no longer at his residence in Aden." A Yemeni official has warned of the outbreak of a civil war if Houthi rebels seize the city.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Exbo
Jemen Huthi-Rebellen
Image: Reuters/K. Abdullah

Briefing reporters in Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed that Yemen's president had fled his residence in the southern city of Aden.

"We were in touch with him earlier today," Psaki said. "He is no longer at his residence. I'm not in position to confirm any additional details from here about his location."

Embattled Yemeni leader Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi left his palace as Shiite rebels closed in on the country's third-largest city.

The rebels, known as Houthis (pictured above in the capital Sanaa) and reportedly supported by Iran, had offered a bounty of around $100,000 (912, 575 euros) for Hadi's capture.

They also arrested his defense minister, Maj.-Gen. Mahmoud al-Subaihi.

The Houthis seized Yemen's capital Sanaa last September and several key northern provinces.

The rebel advance on Aden could see Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, spiral into a civil war that could draw in its Gulf neighbors.

Jemen Flüchtende Zivilisten in Aden
People flee the southern port city of Aden following gunfireImage: picture-alliance/AP Photo

Hadi, a close US ally, appealed to Gulf Arab allies and the United Nations to intervene militarily to stop the Houthi's surrounding the city.

Meanwhile, residents were looting the presidential compound just hours after the president's departure, according to Reuters news agency.

The news agency also reported that Hadi had moved to another presidential palace in the al-Tawahi neighbourhood of Aden on Wednesday afternoon.

It was unclear whether the president remained at the second palace.

lw/kms (AP, Reuters)