Yemen rebels seize U.S. Embassy vehicles as diplomats flee

Show Caption Hide Caption US and UK close embassies in Yemen In the wake of a takeover by Shiite rebels seizing power in Yemen, the US and UK close embassies in Sanaa. Diplomatic personnel relocated. (Feb 11)

Yemen rebels seized U.S. Embassy vehicles in the capital of Sanaa on Wednesday as diplomats fled the country and several foreign embassies closed amid deteriorating security conditions.

More than 25 vehicles were taken by Houthi rebels after Americans departed the city's airport, airport officials told the Associated Press.

The Marine Corps said security personnel destroyed their personal weapons before boarding a commercial flight out of Yemen.

They destroyed heavier weapons, such as machine guns, before departing the shuttered U.S. Embassy in an "orderly" evacuation, said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. He said "several" vehicles were left behind.

A small number of military personnel not assigned to the embassy remain behind, he said. Staffers at the U.S. Embassy also destroyed files and documents, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, the State Department said it currently had no plans for a government-sponsored evacuation of American citizens but urged extreme caution amid an ongoing risk of kidnapping.

In Sanaa, witnesses told the Associated Press that the Houthis violently attacked several demonstrations Wednesday against their takeover of the country. Later in the day, thousands of Houthi supporters marched through the capital shouting "Death to America, Death to Israel," which is part of the group's slogan.

In addition to the United States, Britain and France announced the closure of their embassies in Yemen after the country was taken over by the Shiite militants late last week. The embassy closures were a signal that world powers see little chance the rebels' advances will roll back soon.

Tobias Ellwood, a British cabinet-level secretary for the Middle East, urged British citizens in Yemen to immediately leave. "We now judge that our embassy staff and premises are at increased risk," Ellwood said.

The French embassy said its offices would close Friday and told French citizens to leave the country "as soon as possible," according to a statement Wednesday on its website.

The U.S. Embassy closure will not affect counter-terrorism operations against al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, which the U.S. views as the world's most dangerous branch of the terror group.

Yemen is the Arab world's poorest country, and it has been in crisis for months as fighters led by Iran-linked Abdel-Malek al-Houthi last week dissolved parliament and claimed formal control of the government.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned in January and has since been under house arrest, and al-Houthi has repeatedly warned against foreign intervention.

"We will not accept pressures. They are of no use," al-Houthi said Tuesday. "Whoever harms the interest of this country could see that their interests in this country are also harmed."

Contributing: Jim Michaels and the Associated Press