Reuters, Aden :
Houthi fighters and their allies have pulled back from the central Aden district of Crater after overnight clashes with gunmen loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, residents and local officials said on Friday.
Residents said the Houthis had withdrawn to the Khor Maksar neighborhood after one of their tanks was destroyed and another taken over by Hadi loyalists.
Aden is the last stronghold of fighters loyal to Hadi, who fled the city eight days ago. Houthis have continued to make gains despite more than a week of Saudi-led air strikes against them, though they have faced occasional reverses.
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.
“The Huthi militia and their allies withdrew before dawn from the Al-Maashiq palace,” said the official in Aden, who did not want to be named.
Meanwhile, the United States will provide aerial refueling for a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen but is not passing on precise information for air raids, a senior military official said Thursday.
The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has been given the green light to deploy refueling tankers for the Saudis and their Gulf partners in the operation, though the refueling will take place outside of Yemen’s airspace, the official told reporters.
“We have given CENTCOM the authority to do tanking,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Officials had said previously Washington was considering offering refueling assistance as well as airborne early warning and control aircraft (AWACs). The Saudis were expected to reimburse Washington for the refueling flights, which have not yet started, officials said.
President Barack Obama’s administration had earlier promised intelligence and logistical support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, where Iran-backed Huthi rebels have advanced deep into the southern city of Aden.
The United States was delivering intelligence from surveillance satellites and aircraft to help the Saudis monitor their border and to track the location of Huthi rebel forces as they push south, the official said.
Houthi fighters and their allies have pulled back from the central Aden district of Crater after overnight clashes with gunmen loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, residents and local officials said on Friday.
Residents said the Houthis had withdrawn to the Khor Maksar neighborhood after one of their tanks was destroyed and another taken over by Hadi loyalists.
Aden is the last stronghold of fighters loyal to Hadi, who fled the city eight days ago. Houthis have continued to make gains despite more than a week of Saudi-led air strikes against them, though they have faced occasional reverses.
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.
“The Huthi militia and their allies withdrew before dawn from the Al-Maashiq palace,” said the official in Aden, who did not want to be named.
Meanwhile, the United States will provide aerial refueling for a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen but is not passing on precise information for air raids, a senior military official said Thursday.
The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has been given the green light to deploy refueling tankers for the Saudis and their Gulf partners in the operation, though the refueling will take place outside of Yemen’s airspace, the official told reporters.
“We have given CENTCOM the authority to do tanking,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Officials had said previously Washington was considering offering refueling assistance as well as airborne early warning and control aircraft (AWACs). The Saudis were expected to reimburse Washington for the refueling flights, which have not yet started, officials said.
President Barack Obama’s administration had earlier promised intelligence and logistical support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, where Iran-backed Huthi rebels have advanced deep into the southern city of Aden.
The United States was delivering intelligence from surveillance satellites and aircraft to help the Saudis monitor their border and to track the location of Huthi rebel forces as they push south, the official said.
