Angry Yemeni protesters have been peacefully pushed back after they stormed the presidential palace in the southern city of Aden – seat of the internationally recognised government – a government source said.
Demonstrators broke into the Maashiq Presidential Palace earlier on Tuesday amid public anger over the lack of services, poor living conditions and depreciation of the local currency.
The government official told Al Jazeera that Yemeni and Saudi forces ushered to safety members of the cabinet, including Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, to the military building situated underneath the palace grounds.
Aden residents claim the new government has not done anything to remedy price inflation or repeated power cuts.
Earlier on Tuesday, local sources told Al Jazeera the protesters found no resistance from forces loyal to the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC).
Some carried flags of the STC separatist movement.
Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal said the protesters are members of the national security forces who have not been paid for nine months.
“We understand the protests have been peaceful … and that some sort of mediation is taking place,” Elshayyal said, speaking from Doha.
Shortly after the incident, a government source said that Aden’s police chief, General Mutaher al-Shuaibi, arrived at the scene to talk to protesters and convince them to leave.
The palace, which the UN-backed government had taken as its headquarters, is guarded by Saudi troops on the inside, Elshayyal said.
“But from the outside, it is backed by the separatists – the Southern Transitional Council – which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, which in theory is meant to be backing Saudi Arabia but in reality has been supporting the separatists that have been calling for a secession from Sanaa,” he explained.
Meanwhile, a separate demonstration broke out in Yemen’s eastern city of Sayoun in Hadramout province, after dozens of people stormed a governmental complex in protest against dire living conditions and continuous increases in prices.
Forces affiliated to Yemen’s internationally recognised government fired gun shots in the air to disperse the crowds while protesters burned car tyres in the streets nearby.
The STC condemned the government forces response to the protests.
Yemen has been racked by violence and instability since 2014, when Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.
A new unity government was formed last year under a power-sharing deal brokered by Riyadh, in a bid to end the power struggle between the separatist STC, backed by the UAE, and loyalists to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is backed by Saudi Arabia.
The goal was to unite both sides in the fight against the Houthis, who control the country’s northern areas, including the capital Sanaa.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are key members in an alliance supporting the government-allied forces in fighting the Houthis.
