Fighters from Yemen's Houthi rebel
movement are advancing into southern Yemen, clashing with forces allied
to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
Rebels and soldiers loyal to
Mr Hadi's ousted predecessor reportedly entered the provincial capital
of Dhalea and the Red Sea port of Mukha on Tuesday.
Pro-Houthi troops also killed at least four people protesting in and around the third city of Taizz, medics said.
Mr Hadi has called on the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) to intervene.
His
foreign minister said on Monday that a request was made after warplanes
targeted the palace in the southern port city of Aden that has been the
president's base since he fled Sanaa last month.
The rebels
placed Mr Hadi under effective house arrest when they took full control
of the capital in January and declared that a five-member "presidential
council" would rule the country.
Shipping lane
On Tuesday, Houthi fighters and soldiers loyal to former President Ali
Abdullah Saleh armed with artillery, anti-aircraft guns and machine-guns
were battling militiamen and tribesmen loyal to Mr Hadi in Dhalea,
security officials and residents said.
The Associated Press cited witnesses as saying the rebels had seized the governor's office.
Dhalea,
about 78km (48 miles) east of Taizz, is the capital of a province with
the same name and a hotbed of separatists seeking an independent South
Yemen.
The rebels also entered Mukha, 88km (54 miles) west of Taizz, the Reuters news agency reported.
The
port is a short drive from the strategically important Bab al-Mandab
strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is a vital
shipping lane for oil tankers.
In Taizz, which the rebels captured at the weekend, and the nearby
village of Turba there were clashes between anti-Houthi protesters and
police commandos loyal to Mr Saleh.
Witnesses said the commandos
fired live bullets, tear gas and baton rounds at the protesters to
disperse them. Medics said at least four people were killed and several
others wounded.
Late on Monday, at least 15 rebel fighters and
nine pro-Hadi tribesmen were killed in clashes in the central province
of al-Bayda, tribal sources told the AFP news agency. Another six
tribesmen died in fighting in Marib province, east of Sanaa, the sources
said.
'Coup'
The rebel advance comes a day after Yemen's foreign minister revealed in an interview with the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat
that President Hadi had called on the GCC to send its Peninsula Shield
force to intervene militarily and prevent the fall of Aden.
Riad
Yassin urged the GCC and the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone and
ban the use of warplanes from airports and airbases controlled by the
Houthis and Mr Saleh. Yemen - who is fighting whom?
The Houthis: A minority Shia from the north, the group seized control of Sanaa last year and have since been expanding their control. President Hadi:
Backed by military and police loyalists, and by militia known as
Popular Resistance Committees, he is trying to fight back against the
rebels from his stronghold in the south. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: Seen by the US as the most dangerous branch of al-Qaeda, AQAP opposes both the Houthis and forces loyal to President Hadi. Islamic State: A Yemeni affiliate of IS has recently emerged, which seeks to eclipse AQAP. Saudi
Arabia's Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal meanwhile warned: "If the
Houthi coup does not end peacefully, we will take the necessary measures
for this crisis to protect the region."
The UN special adviser on Yemen, Jamal Benomar, told the BBC that the Saudis had "good reasons" to be concerned.
But
he added: "I don't think any side could win a civil war. No side can
win a civil war - the only way forward is negotiation, which implies
concession from all sides, which implies also, a compromise."
On
Saturday, President Hadi accused the Zaidi Shia-led rebels of mounting
"a coup against constitutional legitimacy" and of being a proxy for
regional Shia power Iran.
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