WASHINGTON
The U.S. government has ordered a temporary reduction in the number of its personnel in Yemen due to ongoing clashes between the army and Houthi militants.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in statement released Thursday: "Today the Department of State ordered a temporary reduction in the number of U.S. government personnel in Yemen.
“We are taking this step out of an abundance of caution and in response to recent political developments and the changing, unpredictable security situation in Yemen."
Psaki said the U.S. embassy would continue to operate with reduced personnel.
She added: "We are continuing to closely monitor developments in Yemen and will calibrate our response as the situation develops."
The department also called on U.S. citizens to avoid nonessential travel to the country.
Yemen has been dogged by turmoil since pro-democracy protests forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in 2012 after 33 years in office. The Houthis seized most of Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Sunday and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has called on Sunni tribesman to attack the Houthis.
www.aa.com.tr/en
