SHI’ITE Houthi rebels backed by supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh seized Yemen’s third-largest city of Taiz and its airport yesterday.

If the rebels hold on to the city, the capital of Yemen’s most populous province, it would be a major blow to embattled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who established a base in Aden after fleeing captivity in the rebel-held capital Sanaa last month.

The seizure comes a day after the Houthis called for a general mobilisation against forces loyal to Mr Hadi, who had just given a defiant speech challenging them.

However, thousands demonstrated in Taiz against both the Houthis and Mr Saleh, prompting the rebels to disperse them by firing into the air and beating them back with truncheons.

The rebels swept into Sanaa in September and now control it and nine of the country’s 21 provinces.

The US responded to the seizure of Taiz by removing its remaining personnel from Yemen.

In a statement on Saturday night, the State Department gave no details about where they had been relocated.

State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said that all remaining US staff, including about 100 special operations forces, had been “temporarily relocated” because of deteriorating security, but insisted that Washington would “continue to actively monitor terrorist threats.”

The last major US military contingent in Yemen had been stationed at the al-Annad air base in the south, according to national security sources.

Earlier on Saturday, Yemeni military officials had said that US troops including special forces commandos were evacuating an air base in southern Yemen.

Mr Hadi accused the Houthi militia on Saturday of staging a coup against him and appealed to the United Nations for “urgent intervention,” even as the US removed its remaining forces.

Only last September US President Barack Obama touted the partnership with Yemen as a model in counter-terrorism.

The UN security council met yesterday to discuss Yemen after Mr Hadi’s appeal for assistance “with all available means to stop this aggression.”

by Our Foreign Desk