Reports: Yemen rebels seize U.S. Embassy vehicles

In the wake of a takeover by Shiite rebels seizing power in Yemen, the US and UK close embassies in Sanaa. Diplomatic personnel relocated. (Feb 11) AP

Yemeni soldiers stand guard outside the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, on Feb. 11.(Photo: Yahya Arhab, EPA)

Yemen rebels seized U.S. Embassy vehicles in the capital of Sanaa on Wednesday as diplomats fled the country amid deteriorating security conditions, according to multiple media reports.

Embassy employees told Reuters more than 20 vehicles were taken by Houthi rebels after Americans departed the city's airport. CNN also reported the vehicles had been seized.

The developments came as the United States, Britain and France announced the closure of their embassies in Yemen after the country was taken over by the Shiite militants.

Before departing the U.S. Embassy, the Marine security detachment destroyed heavier weapons, such as machine guns, said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.

The Marines maintained their personal weapons, including pistols and assault rifles, as they escorted embassy personnel to the airport in an "orderly" evacuation, Warren said. Before boarding commercial flights to leave the capital, the Marines are believed to have turned over those weapons to Yemen officials, he added.

A small number of military personnel not assigned to the embassy remain behind, he said.

Yemeni officials told the Associated Press that staffers at the U.S. Embassy also destroyed files and documents and disposed of firearms belonging to the embassy guards.

"The Department of State has decided to suspend our embassy operations and our embassy staff have been temporarily relocated out of Sana'a," Jen Psaki, a spokesperson in Washington, said late Tuesday.

In a separate travel warning, the State Department said it currently had no plans for a government-sponsored evacuation of American citizens but urged extreme caution amid an ongoing risk of kidnapping.

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Tobias Ellwood, a British cabinet-level secretary for the Middle East, urged British citizens in Yemen to immediately leave. "We now judge that our embassy staff and premises are at increased risk," Ellwood said.

The French embassy said its offices would close Friday and told French citizens to leave the country "as soon as possible," according to a statement Wednesday on its website.

The U.S. Embassy closure will not affect counter-terrorism operations against al-Qaeda's Yemen branch, which the U.S. views as the world's most dangerous branch of the terror group.

Yemen is the Arab world's poorest country, and it has been in crisis for months as fighters led by Iran-linked Abdel-Malek al-Houthi last week dissolved parliament and claimed formal control of the government.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi resigned in January and has since been under house arrest, and al-Houthi has repeatedly warned against foreign intervention.

"We will not accept pressures. They are of no use," al-Houthi said Tuesday. "Whoever harms the interest of this country could see that their interests in this country are also harmed."

Contributing: Associated Press

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