West AsiaYemen

Unknown plane fires 3 rockets at Hadi’s palace in Aden

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An unknown warplane has targeted the residence of Yemen’s fugitive President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in the southern city of Aden, a presidential security official said.

The aircraft “fired three missiles at the presidential complex, which were met by the air defense” systems, the unnamed security official was quoted by AFP as saying on Wednesday.

The security official further noted that the missiles hit “an abandoned building” used by guards within the presidential complex.

The official stated that the missile attacks did not cause any casualties. Witnesses said plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the area around Hadi’s complex in the southern port city.

Earlier in the day an aide to the Yemeni fugitive president said he had been transferred to a “secure location within Aden.”

Members of the Houthi Ansarullah movement entered Aden on Wednesday after detaining Hadi’s Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi and transferring him to the capital, Sana’a.

“Subaihi was arrested in the city of Houta” in Lahij Province, Mohammed Abdulsalam, a spokesman for the Houthi movement, said in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Massira television.

The spokesman said that Subaihi and others arrested were “transferred to Sana’a and are held by the armed forces.”

Air traffic was suspended at Aden’s international airport with an official saying, “Aden airport has been shut down and air traffic suspended due to the security situation.”

The latest developments come as Yemeni forces backed by Ansarullah revolutionaries seized the al-Anad air base, located about 50 kilometers north of Aden.

A spokesman for the Houthis said the ongoing conflict is aimed at fighting al-Qaeda militants and the country’s former president.

The spokesman added that the Houthis would respect the rights of people in southern Yemen.

Days earlier, Yemen’s Houthi movement named Major General Hussein Khairan as the new defense minister for the country.

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