Anti-government forces allied to Saleh advance on southern Yemen

ADEN: Anti- government forces advanced towards President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s refuge of Aden in southern Yemen, fighting fierce battles as the embattled leader again pressed the United Nations for help.

The Shiite Huthi militia, backed by troops allied to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, clashed with forces loyal to Hadi in at least two southern provinces Tuesday as they pushed on Aden, sources said.

In another southern city, Taez, the militia shot dead five demonstrators as protests intensified against the Huthi presence, in what Amnesty International denounced as a “shocking disregard for human life”.

The militiamen have seized large parts of Yemen and, in recent days, have been moving towards Aden, where Hadi f led after escaping house arrest in the capital Sanaa last month.

Yemen, a longtime US ally in the war on al- Qaeda, is increasingly divided between a north controlled by the Huthis, allegedly backed by Iran, and a south dominated by Hadi supporters.

The UN Security Council, Western countries and Gulf Arab monarchies have backed Hadi as the country’s legitimate ruler.

On Tuesday he called for the UN to go further and painted a dark picture of the crisis, raising concerns that al- Qaeda will “seize the current instability to spark further chaos”.

He also referred in a letter to the Security Council to an unspecified “missile capability looted from the legitimate authority”, and asked the body to take control of the missiles.

The president called for the council to pass a binding resolution asking countries to provide immediate support “by all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter the Huthi aggression expected to occur at any hour from now” in several strategic cities, including Aden.

Diplomats on the council said no new meeting has been planned at this time. Tuesday’s clashes came after the Huthis seized the airport and a nearby military base Sunday in Taez, 180 kilometres north of Aden and seen as a strategic entry point to Hadi’s southern refuge.

The Huthis have been increasingly joined in the fight by troops loyal to Saleh, who resigned in 2012 following nationwide protests but has been accused of allying with the Shiite militia as he seeks to regain inf luence. — AFP

Members of a coalition of fighters made up of local tribes, Popular Resistance Committees and supporters of the southern Yemeni separatist movement, who are all opposing the Shiite-Huthi movement, flash the sign for victory as they stand on a tank at...