31 January 2018 11:48 am
Yemeni security officials say the country’s prime minister is preparing to flee after separatists seized the presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden in fierce battles overnight.
The officials say fighters loyal to the so-called Southern Transitional Council fought all way to the gates of the Palace of Maashiq — Arabic for “lovers” — in the district of Crater in Aden. The palace is the seat of Yemen’s internationally backed government.
They say Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid Bin Daghar is to leave the country imminently. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.
The fighting in Aden first erupted on Sunday, when a deadline issued by the separatists for the government to resign expired.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has described the separatists’ action as a “coup.” Earlier reports said at least 36 people have been killed and 185 wounded in two days of heavy fighting between separatists and government troops in Yemen’s interim capital of Aden, the Red Cross said.
Heavy fighting intensified at night after the two sides used tank and artillery on the second day of an attempted “coup” in the southern port city, military sources said.
The flare-up has added yet another dimension to one of the world’s most complicated conflicts, a civil war that has left thousands dead and millions on the brink of starvation.
Yemen, (Hindustan Times), Jan 30, 2018