SAS ‘have pulled out of Yemen’

BRITAIN has evacuated its special forces from Yemen because of the deteriorating security situation there, it was claimed last night.

It is understood they were airlifted from the capital Sana’a after about 100 US special forces were flown home. The withdrawal was reported by news agency Reuters. The Ministry of Defence said it never commented on such matters.

Last month London, Washington and Paris closed their embassies in Yemen as the country teeters on the brink of all-out civil war amid a power struggle between Iranian-backed Shia rebels, known as Houthis, in the north and UN-recognised President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. He fled to the southern city of Aden in February.

The Houthis took over the central city of Taiz at the weekend and already control Sana’a and six provinces. A handful of SAS troops had been liaising with local commandos and US forces as well as protecting embassy staff.