Yemen Shiite rebels take neighborhood in Aden, occupy palace
SANAA - Yemen's Shiite rebels and their allies consolidated their hold in another part of the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday after heavy fighting with militiamen loyal to the exiled government and capturing the area's presidential palace, officials said.
The latest advance by the rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies, loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, showed they are still combat ready despite Saudi-led airstrikes.
The rebels took Aden's southwestern Tawahi district, killing the area's military commander, Maj. Gen. Ali Nasser al-Hassani, and seizing the palace, military officials said.
US forces once used the palace as an operations center and training facility for anti-terrorism forces after rebels captured Sanaa last September, they said. Experts and trainers left this spring when clashes began in Aden.
