Houthi rebels have captured key parts of Yemen and ousted the country’s President.

Dhaka says Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi is the legitimate President of Yemen. Hadi fled the country in February amid the Houthi uprising.

The foreign ministry on Monday in a statement deplored acts of violence perpetrated by Houthis on the people of Yemen “resulting in humanitarian crisis”.

“Bangladesh supports all efforts led by Saudi Arabia in restoring the legitimate state authority and realisation of aspirations of the people of Yemen, as well as upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yemen,” it said.

The Houthi fighters, representing a Shia minority that makes up around a third of Yemen's population, emerged as the most powerful force in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country last year when they captured capital Sana’a.

Saudi Arabia has rallied Sunni Muslim Arab countries in an air campaign to support Hadi, who moved to Aden in February and is now in Riyadh after leaving Yemen in the past week, according to Reuters.

The fighting has brought civil war to a country that was already sliding into chaos and which had been a battlefield for the secret US drone war against al Qaeda.

Bangladesh also urged for resumption of political process guided by the commitment made by the parties within the Gulf Cooperation Council Framework, the National Dialogue Conference outcomes and relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

Foreign nationals have deserted Yemen capital in the wake of the attacks.

The UN, too, has evacuated about a hundred of its international staff from Sana’a, which has been under Houthi control since September.

But two Bangladeshi engineers – Golam Mostafa and Sirajul Haque – are stranded in a hotel.

Foreign ministry officials in Dhaka said on Sunday that they were trying to rescue the two through the country’s embassy in Kuwait.

Monday’s statement, however, did not mention anything about the Bangladeshi nationals in Yemen.