The Yemeni popular resistance forces seized large parts of the presidential palace in the central Yemeni city of Taiz that was controlled by militias of Houthis and former president Ali Abdallah Saleh.

The resistance forces engaged in fierce clashes for hours with the militias to take over the palace, a resistance forces source said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, resistance forces managed to expel militias from several key posts in downtown Taiz after violent confrontations.

For some months, Taiz has been the scene of heavy fighting between forces backing legitimate President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and those allied to the Houthi rebel movement and Saleh. Hundreds of combatants and civilians have been killed.

Houthis, a Shi'ite group, took control of Yemen's capital Sanaa last September. Arab countries intervened in the conflict in March to halt a Houthi advance into the south which caused Hadi to flee to Riyadh from his refuge in the southern port of Aden.

Source: MENA