SANAA

The Chinese embassy in Yemen has been temporarily closed, a Yemeni diplomat said Monday.

The closure of the embassy in capital Sanaa and China's consulate in the southern city of Aden "will be temporary," the diplomat told The Anadolu Agency.

According to the diplomat, the Chinese ambassador and embassy staff have been evacuated to neighboring Djibouti.

Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when the Shiite Houthi militant group overran Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country as well.

Since March 25, Houthi positions have been subject to frequent attack by warplanes from countries participating in a Saudi-led air campaign against the Shiite militant group.

Riyadh says the campaign is in response to appeals by embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi – currently in Saudi Arabia – to "save the [Yemeni] people from the Houthi militias."

The Houthis, for their part, have decried the Saudi-led offensive, describing it as unwarranted "Saudi-American aggression" against Yemen.

Some Gulf States accuse Shiite Iran of supporting Yemen's Houthi insurgency.