Sanaa, Mar 22 (EFE).– The Shiite Houthi rebel movement on the weekend took control of the airport in the southwestern city of Taiz and began sending fighters toward Aden, where Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi lives.

Witnesses in Taiz, the country’s second-largest city, told Efe that Houthi militias wearing the uniform of the Special Forces, occupied not only the airport but also a nearby military airfield.

They also took over the justice complex where the courts meet in the mainly Sunni city 250 km (about 155 mi.) from Sanaa.

Meanwhile, witnesses in Zemar province, south of Sanaa, said that a convoy comprised of tanks and military transport trucks passed through the region heading for the southern province of Al Dalea, en route to Aden.

Hadi fled to Aden on Feb. 21, after the Houthis took power in the country, and from there he has been reorganizing the army and the police who remain loyal to the Yemeni government to try and halt the Shiite advance.

Last Thursday, Houthi combat aircraft bombarded the presidential palace in Aden after violent fighting between pro- and anti-government forces at the airport.

Yemen is mired in a profound political conflict, aggravated by the fact that Hadi last month from Aden withdrew his earlier resignation and announced that he continued to be the country’s legitimate president, a move in opposition to Houthi dictates.

The country is also dealing with operations by jihadist groups, who are frequently attacking loyal military forces and police, as well as the Shiite community.

Last Friday, 154 people died and hundreds more were wounded in suicide bomb attacks on two Shiite mosques in the capital responsibility for which was claimed by the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council will hold an urgent meeting on Sunday to discuss the situation in Yemen. The meeting is slated to begin at 3 p.m. in New York with part of it being public and another portion to be held behind closed doors, the international body announced. EFE