Aden - Saudi-led air raids drove Yemeni rebels from the presidential palace in the main southern city of Aden on Friday as the UN reported more than 500 dead in two weeks of fighting.
The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has sunk further into chaos since the Saudi-led coalition launched Operation Decisive Storm on March 26 to try to halt the rebel advance.
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.
A day after Al-Qaeda militants stormed a jail and freed 300 inmates, residents said the Sunni extremists had overrun large parts of Mukalla, the capital of the southeastern province of Hadramawt.
UN aid chief Valerie Amos said Thursday that 519 people had been killed and nearly 1,700 injured in two weeks of fighting in Yemen, adding she was "extremely concerned" for the safety of trapped civilians.
The conflict has sent tensions soaring between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the foremost Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East.
Iran has angrily rejected accusations it has armed the Huthi Shiite rebels, who have allied with military units loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh to seize large parts of Yemen including the capital Sanaa.
AFP
