Houthi Shiite Yemenis gather while guarding a street leading to the presidential palace in Sana’a
Yemen’s powerful Shiite Houthi rebels shelled the residence of the country’s embattled president yesterday and simultaneously swept into the presidential palace in the capital, Sana’a, as a top military commander warned that a full-fledged “coup” was underway.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was inside the residence as it came under “heavy shelling” for half an hour but he was unharmed and protected by guards, officials said.
The dramatic development put the U.S.-backed Hadi into a precarious position and represented the starkest challenge to his authority since the Houthis swept into Sanaa from their northern stronghold and seized the capital in September.
Information Minister Nadia al-Sakkaf posted on her Twitter account that the shelling started at 3 p.m. local time “by armed forces positioned over rooftops facing” the president’s house.
At the same time, Houthi rebels also raided the president’s offices, sweeping into the presidential palace and looting the grounds’ arms depots, according to Col. Saleh al-Jamalani, the commander of the Presidential Protection Force that guards the palace.
“This is a coup. There is no other word to describe what is happening but a coup,” al-Jamalani told The Associated Press, adding that the rebels were likely aided by insiders.
The escalation shattered a tense ceasefire that had held overnight and throughout the morning, following Monday’s heavy clashes that engulfed the city, leaving ordinary Yemenis stunned and fearing for their country.
The latest spasm of violence followed apparently unsuccessful negotiations earlier in the day between Hadi and a representative of the Houthis at his residence.
Also earlier yesterday, Houthi rebels roamed the streets on foot and in pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, manned checkpoints across Sana’a and near the prime minister’s residence, and beefed up their presence around other key building, including the intelligence headquarters.
The show of force came after they seized control of state media in Sana’a and clashed with Yemeni soldiers near the presidential palace on Monday. Heavy machine gun fire and artillery shells struck around the presidential palace and sent civilians fleeing as columns of black smoke rose and sirens wailed throughout the city.
Monday’s violence left at least nine people dead and 67 were wounded, Yemen’s deputy health minister, Nasser Baoum, said, while both Houthis and Hadi’s forces blamed each other for the outbreak.
Houthis’ power grab has been long anticipated and analysts say they are only “finishing the job” they began in September.
“What is happening now is just one more step toward (the Houthis’) consolidation of power,” said Abdel-Bari Taher, a veteran Yemeni journalist and writer. Ahmed al-Haj, Sana’a , AP
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