Yemen rebel leader vows to take fight to embattled president

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

Yemen's Shiite rebel leader escalated his attack Sunday against the country's embattled President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi, calling him a "puppet'' of the United States and regional powers.

Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, the rebel leader backed by supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, vowed to send fighters into the southern part of the country where Hadi has taken refuge against the rebels, the Associated Press reported.

Al-Houthi said the move is aimed at fighting al-Qaeda and other militant groups, as well as forces loyal to Hadi in the south.

His one-hour fiery speech came hours after his militia seized the country's third largest city of Taiz, an important station in its advance. He called Hadi a "puppet" to international and regional powers who want to "import the Libyan model" to Yemen. He named the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as conspirators against Yemen.

"The decision (to mobilize) aims to confront the criminal forces, al-Qaeda, and its partners and sisters, and all those who want to take cover in regions or using political pretexts," al-Houthi said.

The Shiite militia had also seized Taiz's airport, the AP said.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Taiz to protest against the Houthis and Saleh loyalists, prompting the rebels to disperse them by firing into the air and beating them back with batons, the AP reported.

It comes the day after the Houthis called for a general mobilization against forces loyal to Hadi.

On Saturday, U.S. troops evacuated a southern air base after al-Qaeda seized a nearby town amid growing violence in the war-torn nation. About 100 American troops and special forces units were stationed at the Al Anad air base, near the southern city of al-Houta, which was seized by al-Qaeda's Yemen branch — considered the terror organization's most dangerous — on Friday.

In a statement, U.S. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said: "Due to the deteriorating security situation in Yemen, the U.S. government has temporarily relocated its remaining personnel out of Yemen." He said there is "no military solution to Yemen's current crisis," and added: "We urge the immediate cessation of all unilateral and offensive military actions."

The BBC, citing unnamed officials, said the militants were later pushed out of al-Houta by Yemen's armed forces.

The evacuation of U.S. troops comes amid growing sectarian violence in the mostly Sunni nation under assault from the Houthis, who are the sworn enemies of the Sunni al-Qaeda terrorists.

The Houthis took over the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in September. The rebels control at least nine of Yemen's 21 provinces and have seized parts of the U.S.-backed government, threatening a key American anti-terrorism partner in the region.

Hadi, the embattled president, fled to Aden in the south of the country last month after escaping house arrest at the hands of Houthis in Sanaa. Over the weekend, he made a defiant speech challenging the Houthis in his first public address since leaving Sanaa, the AP reported.

Diplomats from the United States and several European nations fled Yemen in February amid embassy closures resulting from deteriorating security conditions.

Violence in the country has grown in the past week. On Friday, 137 people were killed and 357 wounded after four suicide bombers targeted two Shiite mosques in Sanaa in one of the deadliest attacks in the nation's history.

The U.S. government, prior to the Houthi takeover, had considered Yemen to be a critical partner in its efforts to battle al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That branch of the terror organization has plotted several attacks against U.S. citizens, including schemes to destroy airliners. Between 2007 and 2012, the U.S. government provided more than $1 billion in assistance to Yemen, including nearly $500 million in weapons and training.

Last week, The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon could not account for about $500 million in American weaponry sent to Yemen, including helicopters and weapons.

Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook