Clashes force closure of Yemen's Aden airport
The international airport in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden was forced to close Thursday, as forces loyal to Yemen's former president waged gunbattles with security forces loyal to the current president.
A unit of police commandos loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted following a popular uprising in 2011, entered part of the airport grounds but were resisted by security forces and militias supportive of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Reuters and the Associated Press reported that the Hadi loyalists secured control of the airport after more than four hours of battle.
More than 100 passengers, including an AP reporter who had boarded a flight to Cairo, were ordered off the plane and taken into the terminal building during the fighting.
Troops loyal to Hadi later ordered passengers out of the airport building, forcing them into the clashes.
Three of Saleh's loyalists were killed and 10 were captured in the clashes, security and medical officials told the AP. Al Arabiya News, citing security sources, said at least five people were killed and 13 wounded.
Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Mahmoud al-Subaihi ordered his forces to surround a nearby security facility that serves as the base of renegade police Brig. Gen. Abdul-Hafez al-Saqqaf, a Saleh loyalist, and force the troops there to surrender.
Al-Saqqaf, who was sacked by Hadi but has refused to relinquish control, deployed his men at various locations in the city during the night as fighting erupted in other parts of the city, the AFP news agency reported.
Sporadic clashes between Saleh and Hadi loyalists took place throughout the city later Thursday, and pro-Hadi militiamen took over the Central Bank while Saleh's forces took control of the city council building.
Hadi declared Aden the country's temporary capital last month after escaping house arrest at the hands of Shiite rebels known as Houthis in the capital Sanaa.
Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation, is deeply polarized and engulfed in turmoil that threatens to split the country amid a power grab by the Houthis.
The rebels last year seized Sanaa and several northern provinces, and in January declared themselves the country's rulers. Hadi insists he remains the country's legitimate leader and enjoys much support in Aden, where he has been based since last month.
Meanwhile, Yemen's al-Qaeda branch, considered by Washington the terror network's most dangerous offshoot, has profited from the turmoil and has been stepping up attacks on Yemeni forces and also the Shiite rebels.
Contributing: Associated Press