Yemen

Yemen's leader was rushed to a "secure location" on Wednesday, a top aide said, as rebel forces bore down on his southern stronghold following clashes that sparked warnings of civil war.
      
The aide said President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi was taken to a safe haven "within Aden," denying that he had fled Yemen, a key ally in the US war on Al-Qaeda.
      

Houthi forces backed by allied army units attacked a big airbase about 60 km (37 miles) north of Aden on March 25, triggering heavy fighting with defenders loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, security sources and residents said.
   

Yemen's Shiite militia sent reinforcements south and clashed with local fighters on March 23 after the United Nations warned the country is on the brink of a protracted civil war.
      

The Shiite Huthi militia and its allies on March 22 seized the airport in the strategic Yemeni city of Taez from forces loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, security sources said.
      

Triple suicide bombings killed 55 people Friday at mosques in the Yemeni capital attended by Shiite Huthi militiamen who have seized control of the city, medics said.
      
Dozens more were wounded.
      
One bomb exploded inside Badr mosque in southern Sanaa, and was followed by another at the gate as worshippers fled, witnesses said.
     

An air raid on the presidential palace in Yemen's southern city of Aden and intense fighting at the airport Thursday raised fears for President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled his residence.
     
Hadi was forced to evacuate the palace in the country's major southern city, presidency sources said, after it was attacked by a fighter jet.
      

Air traffic to Yemen's main southern city of Aden was suspended early on March 19 after fighting broke out between supporters and opponents of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, an airport source told AFP.        

Talks aimed at pulling Yemen out of crisis are open to the Shiite Huthi militia which seized power in Sanaa last month, Qatar's Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah said on March 12.
      

At least two militants and two soldiers died in an al Qaeda assault on an army base in southern Yemen early on March 9, officials and residents said, in another sign of unravelling security.

A Saudi Arabian diplomat returned to Riyadh on March 2 after being released by kidnappers in Yemen where he spent three years as a hostage, the kingdom's Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by state media.