US, France, UK Close Embassies in Yemen amid Turmoil
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The US, Britain and France said Wednesday they were closing their embassies in Yemen after Houthi movement seized power there, highlighting the turmoil gripping the country as it marked the fourth anniversary of toppling its longtime autocratic ruler.
The embassy closures came as Houthis, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and dressed in police uniforms and civilian clothes, patrolled the main boulevards of the capital, Sanaa, some in pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns.
Scattered protests could be seen in the city, with demonstrators denouncing the Houthis for taking power and dissolving parliament. Shops closed early and helicopters also hovered overhead.
Houthis attacked one demonstration, stabbing and beating protesters trying to reach the local United Nations office, witnesses were quoted by AP as saying.
A number of people were detained as well, they said.
In the central city of Bayda, also held by the Houthis, the militants dispersed another protest, wounding a coordinator of the anti-Houthi movement, witnesses said.
In Taiz, Yemen's most populous city and one not held by the Houthis, thousands flocked to the streets to protest the group.
Early Wednesday morning, UK Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood urged British citizens still in Yemen to "leave immediately" as the British Embassy evacuated its staff. This came as the State Department confirmed it closed the US Embassy in Sanaa and evacuated its staff. The French Embassy said it would close Friday.
"The security situation in Yemen has continued to deteriorate over recent days," UK Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood said. "Regrettably we now judge that our embassy staff and premises are at increased risk."
