Rebels storm Prez palace in Aden

Al Qaeda frees inmates in Yemen jailbreak; Saudis suffer their first casualties

Aden, April 2: Yemeni rebels stormed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s palace in his former southern stronghold Aden Thursday, dealing a symbolic blow to the self- exiled leader despite a week of Saudi- led airstrikes.

As the war- torn country descended deeper into chaos, Al Qaeda militants freed hundreds of inmates in a jailbreak.

The advance by Iranbacked rebels deep into Aden, the last bastion of Hadi supporters, appeared to further douse prospects of his returning any time soon from neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, hours after the Houthis took over Aden’s central Crater neighbourhood, unidentified armed men arrived by sea in an area of the port city which the Iran- allied Shia fighters have yet to reach.

A Yemeni official denied that ground troops had landed in Aden and a port official said they were armed guards who had disembarked from a Chinese ship trying to bring aid or evacuate civilians.

“Dozens of Huthi militia and their allies arrived in armoured troop carriers and entered Al- Maashiq presidential palace,” said a senior security official who witnessed their advance.

Heavy clashes, including tank shelling, erupted afterwards between the rebels and their opponents inside the compound, a member of the pro- Hadi militia told AFP. At least 44 people — including 18 civilians — were reported dead on Thursday in fierce fighting between opponents and supporters of Mr Hadi in the southern port city.

“There are bodies and wounded in the streets and nobody dares to approach,” said Khaled al- Shaie, a resident in the central neighbourhood of Crater.