Yemen Presidential Residence and Palace Attacked, Raising Fears of a Coup - New York Times

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Houthi militiamen guarded a building damaged during clashes near the presidential palace in Sana, Yemen, on Tuesday. Credit Hani Mohammed/Associated Press

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SANA, Yemen — The presidential residence and palace in Yemen were shelled on Tuesday by Houthi rebel militiamen, the information minister reported, in an escalation of the fighting that has gripped the capital for the past few days and raised fears of a coup in one of the Middle East’s weakest countries.

The president of Yemen, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, was believed to be inside the residence, a short distance from the presidential palace in Sana, the capital. It was not immediately clear whether he was safe.

The information minister, Nadia Sakkaf, who has been providing a Twitter feed about the mayhem in the capital, said in one post that the presidential residence had come under heavy shelling by militiamen in the midafternoon and that the presidential palace had also been attacked. Houthi guards were later seen outside both compounds.

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“Events in Yemen are changing and developing very rapidly,” Ms. Sakkaf said in a series of postings on the violence, which appeared to have shattered a fragile cease-fire that took effect late on Monday.

Government officials have accused the Houthi militiamen, members of an increasingly powerful movement whose leaders are Zaydi Shiites from northern Yemen, of trying to carry out a coup. The Houthis have been pressing Mr. Hadi over troubled negotiations over a draft constitution.

Mr. Hadi is an ally of the United States, but the violence in the capital in recent days has raised doubts about his hold on authority and become an increasing concern to the Obama administration.

Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, has a reputation as a breeding ground for Al Qaeda and other militant groups.

Ali Al-Qahoom, a Houthi political leader, said there had been clashes on Tuesday afternoon at Mr. Hadi’s residence, but that by early evening, the fighting had been “contained.”

By about 6:30 p.m., the streets leading to the president’s residence were quiet, but heavily guarded and blocked by Houthi gunmen, who turned approaching cars away.

A five-minute drive from the residence, the presidential palace was also surrounded by Houthi gunmen, on foot and in armored vehicles. Presidential guard troops were seen leaving the palace with their belongings, and said that they had been ordered to leave by the Houthis.

The deterioration in Yemen on Tuesday preoccupied diplomats at the United Nations Security Council, which held an emergency session to hear from its special envoy to the country, Jamal Benomar.

He told diplomats that the rebels had used heavy weapons in an attack on the presidential palace, and that presidential guards had fought back.

American officials in Yemen disclosed that a United States diplomatic vehicle in Sana came under fire Monday evening at a Houthi checkpoint near the embassy. Christiaan James, a spokesman for the embassy, said Houthi gunmen had first fired in the air then turned their weapons on the vehicle.

Mr. James did not specify who was inside but said “our personnel were able to get away and there were no injuries.”

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A Houthi fighter on a mountain overlooking the presidential palace in Sanaa on Monday. Credit Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

Shuaib Almosawa reported from Sana, Yemen, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Kareem Fahim contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Somini Sengupta from the United Nations.