Clashes between Yemeni security forces and Houthi rebels are raging across downtown Sanaa, amid reports that the prime minister's convoy had been attacked and the president flown out of the capital. Gun battles began early on Monday near the presidential palace and have spread to other strategic areas in the city. The militants have closed off all the streets leading to the palace, witnesses said.Hakim al-Masmari, the Yemen Post's editor-in-chief, said there was shooting going on near the presidential residence. Calling the fighting much more dramatic than when the Houthis took control of the capital, he said, "This chaos is the first of its kind."
Yemen's information minister, Nadia Sakkaf, said the prime minister's convoy was attacked after he left a meeting with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. She said a Houthi convoy had also been attacked, suggesting that a "third party" was involved.Earlier on Monday, Sakkaf had said that a ceasefire had been negotiated with the militants. There was a brief lull in fighting, but clashes resumed after just an hour.
In the inital stages of fighting, a military source in the presidential guard accused the Houthis of deploying fighters and setting up a checkpoint near the palace. He said the Houthis refused to withdraw and opened fire on the soldiers, after which the army responded. But a Houthi official said that the presidential security forces attacked the Houthi checkpoint, leading to the clashes.