ADEN, Yemen
The presidential palace in the southern city of Aden has been evacuated after having been targeted by an airstrike carried out by Yemen's Shiite Houthigroup, a government official said Thursday.
"President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and his aides have been evacuated from the palace after it was struck by a warplane," the official told The Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.
He gave no word, however, as to Hadi's current whereabouts.
A government official had earlier told AA that a Houthiplane had broken the sound barrier over the palace.
"Air-defense systems forced the plane to fly at high altitudes," he said.
Earlier in February, the Houthis issued what they described as a constitutional declaration dissolving parliament and establishing a 551-member transitional council.
The declaration, however, was rejected by most of Yemen's political forces – along with some neighboring Gulf countries – which described it as a "coup against constitutional legitimacy."
Pro-Houthi pilots carried out Aden airstrikes
A warplane flown by pilots affiliated with the Shiite Houthi movement carried out the airstrikes that struck Aden's presidential palace earlier Thursday, a Yemeni Air Force source has said.
"The plane took off from Sanaa's Al-Dailami airbase, which is under Houthi control," the source, requesting anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency.
Orders were given to the pilots by the head of the Air Force's operations division and the deputy chief of staff, both of whom, the source asserted, were collaborating with the Houthis.
The Houthis, for their part, have yet to comment on the source's assertions.
Earlier Thursday, Aden's presidential palace – where President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi is currently based – was attacked by an unidentified aircraft, prompting his supporters to evacuate the site.
According to a government official, Hadi and his aides were evacuated from the palace following the airstrike.
Hadi accuses 'Iran agents' of attempting Aden coup
Hadi has accused what he described as "agents backed by Iran" of attempting to stage a coup against him in the southern province of Aden.
He said Aden's vigilantes had succeeded in foiling a bid by these "agents" to stage a coup in Aden by occupying the airport of the southern province.
"The success to thwart this cheap attempt reflected the unity between the army, policemen and vigilantes," Hadi said in a statement.
He said attacks on the airport of Aden and airstrikes against the presidential palace in the southern province on Thursday revealed that the "other side" did not want to reach a settlement for the crisis in Yemen through dialogue, implicitly pointing the finger at the Shiite Houthi movement.
Hadi, who arrived in Aden in February after he escaped a Houthi-imposed house arrest in capital Sanaa, said the success of his troops to liberate Aden Airport triggered the airstrikes on the presidential palace and other military sites in Aden.
Yemen's Houthis emerged as a formidable political and military force last September when they assumed control of capital Sanaa before establishing control over other parts of the country as well.
Last month, the Houthis issued what they described as a constitutional declaration dissolving parliament and establishing a 551-member transitional council.
The declaration, however, was rejected by most of Yemen's political forces – along with some neighboring Gulf countries – which described it as a "coup against constitutional legitimacy."
Fractious Yemen has remained in a state of turmoil since pro-democracy protests forced autocratic president Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in 2012 after 33 years in power.
