In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks by AQAP in Paris and the continuing proxy war in Yemen, Shiite Houthi rebels have attacked the Yemen presidential offices.
SANAA, Yemen -- Yemen's powerful Shiite Houthi rebels shelled the residence of the country's embattled president Tuesday and simultaneously swept into the presidential palace in the capital, Sanaa, as a top military commander warned that a full-fledged "coup" was underway.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi was inside the residence as it came under "heavy shelling" for half an hour but he was unharmed and protected by guards, officials said.
The leader of the Houthi rebels warned of a further escalation if Hadi stands in the way of political reform....
Also earlier Tuesday, Houthi fighters roamed the streets on foot and in pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, manned checkpoints across Sanaa and near the prime minister's residence, and beefed up their presence around other key building, including the intelligence headquarters.
The show of force came after they seized control of state media in Sanaa and clashed with Yemeni soldiers near the presidential palace on Monday. Heavy machine gun fire and artillery shells struck around the presidential palace and sent civilians fleeing as columns of black smoke rose and sirens wailed throughout the city.
Monday's violence left at least nine people dead and 67 were wounded, Yemen's deputy health minister, Nasser Baoum, said, while both Houthis and Hadi's forces blamed each other for the outbreak.
Houthis' power grab has been long anticipated and analysts say they are only "finishing the job" they began in September.