Air Raid Targets Yemen Presidential Complex in Aden

A warplane targeted Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's residence in Aden today, but hit a nearby building instead, a presidential security official told AFP.

The aircraft "fired three missiles at the presidential complex, which were met by the air defence" systems, official said.

Witnesses said that plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the area around Hadi's complex in the southern port city.

The security official said that the raid hit "an abandoned building" occasionally used by guards within the complex, without causing any casualties.

An aide of Hadi said earlier on Wednesday that the embattled leader has been transferred to a "secure location within Aden".

Shiite Huthi militia, backed by troops allied to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, advanced rapidly Wednesday towards Aden, seizing the Al-Anad airbase some 50 kilometers north of Yemen's main southern city.

Hadi last week was forced to evacuate the palace as a fighter jet carried out an air raid on the complex, hitting a nearby hill.

The militiamen have seized large parts of Yemen and in recent days have been moving towards Aden, where Hadi fled after escaping house arrest in the capital Sanaa last month.

Yemen, a longtime US ally in the war on Al-Qaeda, is increasingly divided between a north controlled by the Huthis, allegedly backed by Iran, and a south dominated by Hadi supporters.