Yemen’s Prime Minister came under fire Monday shortly after clashes erupted outside the presidential palace, officials said.
Prime Minister Khaled Bahah was targeted when he left a meeting with the President and the Houthi political group Ansarallah, said Nadia Al Sakkaf, the country’s information minister.
Bahah was unharmed, but is now in hiding.
Al Sakkaf said the gunfire came from a Houthi checkpoint near the meeting place, and the attempt to kill the Prime Minister was a breach on an earlier ceasefire.
A senior Houthi official condemned the attack and denied the group had anything to do with it. They blamed it on a third party that they did not name.
Heavy clashes erupted outside the presidential palace in Yemen on Monday after a dispute over road closures in the capital, officials said. The roads were closed as a security measure after the presidential chief of staff was abducted in Sanaa last week.
Houthi rebels claimed responsibility Saturday for the abduction of the presidential Chief of Staff Ahmed bin Mubarak.
Adding to the disputes, the information minister said Yemeni state TV and the state-run Saba news agency are now under the control of the Houthi political movement. But senior Houthi official Ali AlShami denied they are in control of either news outlet.
Power struggle
Yemeni officials described the unfolding events as a bid to seize power.
Gunmen linked to the Houthi political movement are attacking the presidential administration in a bid to take control of the symbol of power, Al Sakkaf said.
President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was not in the building and is safe, according to Al Sakkaf.
Casualties include some government officials who were in the building, although an exact number is was unclear, she said.
The dispute began when the government tried to implement a security plan as they feared more abductions of key staff, she said.
But a top Houthi official said they tried to mediate with the army and asked for the roads to be opened for the citizens, which led to their people getting attacked. He said they then had to defend themselves.
The top presidential aide was abducted by gunmen Saturday morning, security officials said.
Hadi appointed him as premier back in October, but the rebels rejected the nomination.
Bin Mubarak had been detained by the Houthis as a message to the President, said Osama Sari, senior media adviser to the Houthi movement in Yemen.
Sari added this was because the President wanted to introduce a new constitution without the approval of the Houthis.
Hadi was elected President in February 2012. He was the only candidate on the ballot.