Houthi militias have taken a key airbase 60 km (37 miles) north of the Yemeni port city of Aden under control. Local residents say the fighters advanced to within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the city, where the country's president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, is staying.
US forces used the al-Anad base in their drone campaign against al-Qaeda.
Houthi insurgents, who overran the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, in September, placed Hadi under house arrest, forcing the president to resign. On February 21, he fled to Aden saying all political decisions made by the Houthis, a Shia group, were void.
