The USS Iwo Jima and the USS Fort McHenry warships sailed into the Red Sea on Wednesday.
Both are positioned to take on foreign service employees and their families fleeing the U.S. embassy in Yemen, if deemed necessary. Iranian-backed Shi’ite Houthi rebels overtook the presidential palace after a long barrage of shelling in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, on Tuesday, according to CNN. Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf told the news network, “The President has no control [over the country.”
Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi is believed to be in his private residence, and was not in the presidential palace at the time of the attack. However, the president’s residence is reportedly under attack as well, as is the prime minister’s residence as well, according to Sakkaf.
The attack on the presidential regime apparently comes in response to a decision to introduce a new constitution without the approval of the Houthi constituency. On Saturday, Houthi rebels also abducted presidential chief of staff Ahmed bin Mubarak in Sana’a.
The southern city of Aden is still reportedly under the control of the government regime, which closed the Aden port and sealed roads leading into and out of Sana’a, according to Yemeni state television. But the government has little other control, and it may just be a matter of time before even that much is wrested away by Al Qaeda.
Meanwhile, the situation is becoming increasingly perilous for foreigners in the country – and for Americans in particular, given the ongoing “war on terror” being waged by the U.S. against Al Qaeda.
Yemen is home to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) – the Al Qaeda branch that partnered with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the recent Paris terror attacks. AQAP claimed direct responsibility for the massacre attack on the offices of the French ‘Charlie Hebdo’ satiric weekly magazine.
The takeover of the Yemeni presidential palace came just a day after clashes between government forces and Houthi rebel fighters left nine people dead and 67 others wounded.
That clash followed an attack Monday night on a U.S. embassy vehicle in Sana’a. It is not clear who fired at the vehicle, which was clearly marked. U.S. diplomatic personnel were in the car at the time. No one was injured according to a report by Fox News Insider. So far the embassy is still open.
“[We] are deeply concerned about the turn of events in Yemen over the last few days,” a State Department official also told U.S.-based ABC News. “[We are] continuing to closely monitor developments…and adjust the embassy’s security posture response in accordance to the situation on the ground.”