ADEN: Saudi-led air raids drove back rebels in the last stronghold of Yemen's absent president on Friday, while al Qaeda militants seized a major army base in the southeast.
The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has sunk further into chaos since the coalition spearheaded by Riyadh launched Operation Decisive Storm on March 26 to try to halt the advance by Huthi rebels.
The turmoil has raised fears that al Qaeda will expand its foothold in the deeply tribal country, which borders oil-rich Saudi Arabia and lies near key shipping routes.
Iran has angrily rejected accusations of arming the rebels, who have allied with military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh to seize large parts of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
After a night of intense coalition bombardment, rebel forces withdrew from President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's palace in Aden, a senior official said.
They had captured the hilltop complex a day earlier in a symbolic blow to Hadi, who had already fled to Saudi Arabia.
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