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Yemeni protesters storm Aden presidential palace
ADEN, March 16, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Hundreds of angry Yemenis stormed the
presidential palace in Aden Tuesday protesting poor living conditions in the
war-torn country but were eventually pushed back peacefully, an AFP
correspondent said.
Protesters, including retired military and security officers, marched in
the southern port city, the de facto capital where the internationally-
recognised government is based.
“Revolution, revolution in the south,” they shouted.
Palace guards shot into the air but protesters continued to march in.
The crowd remained in the building for over an hour before dispersing.
A government official told AFP that Yemeni and Saudi forces escorted to
safety members of the cabinet, including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik
Saeed, to the military intelligence building on the palace grounds.
Protesters told AFP that they were angry over a lack of services and a
delay in the payment of salaries.
Some carried flags of the southern separatist movement.
Yemen’s government was formed in December under a Riyadh-sponsored power
sharing agreement between ministers loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi
and supporters of the secessionist Southern Transitional Council.
Both are technically fighting the Iran-backed Huthi rebels, who control the
capital Sanaa in the north.
But the STC has sought to restore South Yemen’s independence from the
north. The two sides unified in 1990.
Aden residents claim the new government has not done anything to remedy
price inflation or repeated power cuts.
Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war between the government — backed by
a Saudi-led military coalition — and the Huthi rebels since 2014, pushing
the country to the brink of famine.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and
millions displaced in the conflict, which has crippled the economy and
healthcare system.
The UN calls Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
BSS/AFP/RY/20:12hrs