Yemen leader orders Sanaa takeover

SANAA: Yemen’s exiled president ordered troops to advance on Sanaa hours after his predecessor was killed by Houthi rebels, officials said, as heavy fighting continued in the capital.

President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi called on Yemenis to unite against the Iran-backed insurgents who shot Ali Abdullah Saleh dead as he fled the city following the collapse of their alliance.

“Let’s join hands to end the control of these criminal gangs and open a new chapter to rid Yemen of this nightmare,” Hadi, leader of the internationally recognised government, said in a televised address late Monday from Saudi Arabia, where he lives in exile.

Saleh, who ruled Yemen for three decades, joined forces with the Syiah Houthi rebels in 2014 when they took over large parts of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.

But that alliance unravelled over the past week, with dozens reported dead in heavy clashes as the former leader reached out to the Saudi-led coalition that has waged devastating air strikes against the Houthis since Sept 2015.

Yemen’s war has left thousands dead, led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and deepened tensions between Middle East rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Hadi ordered Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar to “activate military units and advance towards the capital,” an official speaking on condition of anonymity said.

Military and government sources said the army would advance on Sanaa from the East and North-East, with at least seven battalions ordered to move forward.

Saleh was forced to step down in 2012, after his forces waged a bloody crackdown on peaceful Arab Spring-inspired protests calling for his ouster.

The 75-year-old had survived civil war, rebellion in the North, an Al-Qaeda insurgency in the South and a June 2011 bomb attack on his palace that wounded him badly.

The Houthis announced Saleh’s death on the rebels’ Al-Masirah television station, declaring in a statement the “end of the crisis of militias” – referring to Saleh’s armed supporters, to whom the government has offered an amnesty.

There were reports of further clashes and coalition strikes against Houthi- controlled government buildings and around Sanaa airport on Monday evening.

The Saudi-led coalition warned the city’s residents to evacuate rebel-controlled areas, as international aid groups warned Monday they were losing the ability to reach civilians in Sanaa.