SANAA, Yemen — Yemen's Shiite rebels and their allies advanced in the southern city of Aden on Wednesday, capturing parts of an upscale neighborhood and seizing men they accuse of fighting them from their homes.
Security officials in the city said the rebels, known as Houthis, aided by military forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, had moved up the seaside road in the neighborhood of Khormaksar, taking an area stretching from the Russian Consulate to the Crater business district.
Thousands of civilians fled the fighting as the rebels and their allies went house to house searching for suspected adversaries. Eyewitnesses, including activist Maha al-Sayyed, said they pulled some of the men onto the streets and shot them, while warning residents over loudspeakers against harboring fighters.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief journalists.
Since March 26, a U.S.-backed alliance of Saudi Arabia and Arab countries has been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis and Saleh's forces, trying to stop their advance south after they captured the capital and much of the country's north last year. The Saudi- and Western-backed president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, was forced into exile and is currently in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
So far, the air campaign has been unable to halt the Iranian-allied rebels. On Wednesday, the security officials said the rebels had brought in reinforcements from neighboring Abyan province. They say the rebels now use public transport to avoid air strikes.
Aden has seen fierce fighting for weeks, as the Houthis and pro-Saleh troops try to wrest the city from local militias and Hadi loyalists. The Houthis have imposed a siege on the city, cutting off fuel supplies and leaving large parts of it in darkness.
On Monday, the Houthis stormed the nearby Republican Hospital, firing heavily and forcing medical staff including Red Cross doctors to flee while detaining some of the wounded receiving treatment there.
Airstrikes continued throughout the country on Wednesday, hitting targets in Aden, Saada, Hajja, Taiz, Ibb and Bayda.
