Feature: Yemen's Aden engulfed into chaos as Houthi militias near

For Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, the embattled Yemen's president, the southern port city of Aden is perhaps his last refuge in the country as the Shiite Houthi fighters are quickly closing in on Hadi's provisional capital.

On Wednesday, warplanes bombed Hadi's residence in Aden, and widespread rumors erupted that the president fled his interim palace, which were later proved to be false.

While it might be a fact that Mr. Hadi is still in his presidential compound safe and sound, residents in the city have been frightened, and were seen packing up to flee the flaring violence to neighboring Abyan province despite al-Qaida network's active presence there.

Intensified gunfire could be heard on the outskirts of Aden, which the president assigned as the temporary capital last week. Capital Sanaa has now been under control of the Houthi group for almost half a year.

In the port city, all foreign diplomatic missions were suspended. The Aden international airport was shut down because all of its staff have left for fears, but diplomats of the Gulf Arab nations have already flown out of the country.

A source inside the presidential palace said Hadi is still in Aden to command his forces to battle against the Houthi group.

He said Hadi is in "a safe and well-guarded place and he won't leave the country," declining to confirm whether or not Hadi is in the presidential palace.

"Aden is a peaceful city and we never used to live in such poor security situation and random shootings at midnight. There are no national troops, only strange-armed men patrolling the streets with medium and heavy weaponry," 30-year-old dentist Rasha Mana said.

She said that maintaining the city's stability and protecting public properties is the major responsibility of army and police, not tribal militia, pointing out the authorities in Aden are taking "high-risk options."

However, this is probably not the worst situation in Aden, as pro-Hadi tribal militia may battle the Houthi fighters in their last stronghold in the country.

The Shiite Houthi fighters backed by security forces advanced in Yemen's south and took control over the strategic Anad air base in the southern province of Lahj early on Wednesday, a military official said.

Thousands of Houthi militias are advancing from the air base to Aden city that is just about 40 km away.

A senior Houthi member told Xinhua reporter that the group has arrested Defense Minister Major General Mahmoud al-Subaihi in Lahj province who has been commanding most of the pro-Hadi army to battle the Houthis.

When al-Subaihi was escorted to Sanaa, most of the army troops have surrendered to the Houthi group, leaving a small number of soldiers and tribal militia to defend Hadi in Aden.

The Arab League will discuss the crisis in Yemen at ministerial level on Thursday in a meeting in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after Hadi called for military intervention to stop the Houthi fighters.

"Most people especially in Aden nowadays are aware of the importance of government authorities to rebuild the country and establish a civil state. No one believes in militia to save the nation," Rasha Mana said.

UN envoy Jamal Benomar brief the UN security council on Sunday that Yemen is on "rapid downward spiral" and current events "are leading the country away from political settlement and to the edge of civil war."

The impoverished country has mired in political gridlock since 2011 when mass protests forced former President Ali Abdullash Saleh to step down.

Nevertheless, three years of reconciliation talks have failed to mediate peace and stability. Instead, a huge power vacuum has been created, and has already benefited the powerful extremist groups like al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Wael al-Kassimy, a 25-year-old engineer student at Aden University, said he fears that militants of the al-Qaida branch may expand their presence in Aden by "disguising or turning into militia."

"Tribal militia makes us both worried and confused because it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between these armed men and al-Qaida. They are just alike," al-Kassimy said.

The deep and loud sound of warplanes above Aden created panic among the residents, especially when the presidential guards fired anti-aircraft artillery to expel the air raid.

"We are nervous and the children are scared of the warplanes flying at midnight over our homes," said Shehab Naif, a local resident in Crater district in Aden.

Saleh Khairan, a 27-year-old English teacher, complained that teaching has been interrupted for fears that students could be wounded by stray bullets.

"Students are afraid of attending their schools alone and some others prefer to stay at home instead of going out for study," Khairan said. Endit