MOSCOW, September 7 (RIA Novosti) – Rebels from the Shiite Houthi movement have blocked one of the main roads leading to the international airport in Yemen’s capital Sana, as the country’s government refused to give in to the protesters’ demands, Al Jazeera reported Sunday.
"Today they decided to block one of the main roads that lead to the international airport of Sanaa, which is in an area where most of the government ministries are located, particularly the ministry of interior," an Al Jazeera correspondent said.
"We are also hearing that Houthis are planning to occupy government ministries and to block more main roads in Sanaa to completely cripple the capital," the correspondent added.
Thousands of Houthi followers have in recent weeks staged rallies in Sana, demanding the government step down and fuel subsidies to be reinstated.
On Tuesday, in a bid to end the standoff between the government and Houthis, Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi dismissed his cabinet, promising to appoint a new prime minister within a week.
The Houthis conducted a six-year uprising in the north against Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which officially ended in 2010.
After Saleh's ouster, Houthis started fighting Sunni groups in several of the country’s northern cities and towns, accusing them of turning the area into incubators of extremism.
