Yemen rebels quit Aden palace after air raids: senior official

Rebel forces withdrew from Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s palace in his former southern stronghold Aden early Friday after overnight air raids by the Saudi-led coalition, a senior official said. The rebels had seized the hilltop complex a day earlier after fierce fighting with supporters of Hadi, who has taken refuge in Saudi Arabia. Under pressure from pro-Hadi fighters, the rebel forces retreated to the nearby central district of Khor Maksar. A security source and the official Saudi news agency SPA also reported the rebels had quit the palace.

The Huthi militia and their allies withdrew before dawn from the Al-Maashiq palace.

A senior official from President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi’s palace in his southern stronghold Aden

The Saudi-led coalition launched an air war, called Operation Decisive Storm, on March 26 to try to stop an advance by Shiite Huthi rebels and allied military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Hadi fled to Aden from Sanaa after the rebels seized power in the capital in February, and the southern palace came under fire from warplanes twice during his stay.

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