Flights to and from the international airport in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden have been suspended amid fighting and heavy exchanges of gunfire between rival militant groups.
“Air traffic at Aden airport was suspended and flights cancelled,” an airport source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday.
Travelers arriving at the international airport, located approximately 420 kilometers (260 miles) south of the capital, Sana’a, earlier on Thursday were told to turn back because of the clashes, which erupted overnight.
One of the travelers said armed men had taken control of the access roads to the airport.
The development came after the commander of the special forces in Aden, Abdel Hafez al-Saqqaf, ordered units to be deployed on roads in the city, including near the airport.
The Popular Resistance Committees, loyal to fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, disputed the measures, and engaged in clashes in various parts of Aden.
Hadi, along with the cabinet members of Premier Khaled Bahah, stepped down in late January, but the Yemeni parliament did not approve the president’s resignation. He fled his home in Sana’a on February 21 after weeks under effective house arrest and went to Aden, Yemen’s second largest city, where he officially withdrew his resignation and highlighted his intention to resume duties. This came after the Houthi fighters took control of Sana’a last September, 2014.
Some Persian Gulf Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, have already relocated their embassies from Sana’a to Aden.
Hadi also called on the Houthis, who had taken control of Sana’a, to relinquish power and leave Sana’a. The Houthis, however, said Hadi had lost his legitimacy as head of state and was being sought as a fugitive from justice.
The Houthi movement played a key role in the 2011 popular uprising that forced dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to quit after 33 years in power. They say the Yemeni government has been incapable of properly running the affairs of the country and providing security.
