(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Yemen's embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi pledged on Saturday to fight Iran's influence in his violence-wracked country, accusing the Houthi militia of importing Tehran's ideology.
Hadi lashed out at the Iran-backed militia a day after multiple suicide bombings at Houthi mosques claimed by the Daesh group killed 142 people and wounded 351.
The country is on the brink of civil war with a deepening political impasse and an increasingly explicit territorial division along sectarian lines, amid rising violence pitting Houthi militia against Sunni tribes and Al Qaeda militants.
In a further sign of worsening security, US troops stationed at Al Anad airbase in southern Yemen have been evacuated for security reasons, a military source at the Yemeni base said.
By claiming its first attack in Yemen, the Daesh group is seeking to exploit the chaos gripping the country where its rival Al Qaeda has traditionally been the dominant militant movement.
The Houthis, who seized Sanaa in September, vowed to take further "revolutionary steps" following Friday's blasts.
In his first televised speech since he fled to Aden from house arrest in Houthi-held Sanaa, Hadi said he would ensure that "the Yemeni republic flag will fly on the Marran mountain in (the militia's northern stronghold) Saada, instead of the Iranian flag".
"The Iranian Twelver pattern that has been agreed upon between the Houthis and those who support them will not be accepted by Yemenis," he said.
In a letter to relatives of the victims of the mosque bombings, which also wounded 351 people, Hadi condemned the attacks as "terrorist, criminal and cowardly".
"Such heinous attacks could only be done by the enemies of life" who want to drag Yemen into "chaos, violence and internal fighting", he said.
"Shia extremism, represented by the armed Houthi militia, and Sunni extremism, represented by Al Qaeda, are two sides of the same coin, who do not wish good and stability for Yemen and its people."
Hadi has declared Aden the country's temporary capital.
Friday's bombings came a day after clashes in the southern city between forces loyal to Hadi and those allied with the Houthis.
There were signs that security forces allied with the Houthis and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh were planning to seize Taez - a strategic city between the capital and Aden.
Since taking Sanaa the Houthis have tightened their grip on government institutions, aided by forces loyal to Saleh.
But in their push to widen their control to the south, they have faced fierce resistance from Sunni tribes allied with Al Qaeda militants active in the impoverished country.
Al Qaeda distanced itself from the bombings, insisting it does not target mosques.
In an online statement claiming responsibility, the Sanaa branch of Daesh said the attacks were "just the tip of the iceberg".
Mohammed Abdulsalam, spokesman for the Houthis' Ansarullah party, called the attacks part of a "clear war against the Yemeni people and its popular revolution" - a reference to Sanaa's takeover.
He accused "Gulf-funded media" of providing political cover for Al Qaeda in the provinces of Baida and Marib.
"It is now imperative that we complete the revolutionary steps to protect the people and their revolution," Abdulsalam said in a statement.
The Houthi threat came as reinforcements from the Special Forces, accused of links to the Houthis and Saleh, were sent to Taez, 260 kilometres south of Sanaa.
Military sources said some 1,200 soldiers, backed by 22 armoured vehicles, had arrived at the Special Forces base in Taez.
Hundreds demonstrated on Saturday outside the base, saying Houthi fighters were among the troops and demanding their return to Sanaa.
Taez is just 180 kilometres north of Aden, and is seen as a strategic entry point to Hadi's refuge.
"The bombings in Sanaa will now be taken as an excuse to open new fronts by attacking Taez and Marib (in the east)," said Yemeni youth activist Bassem Al Hakimi.
The mosque blasts sparked an international outcry.
Saudi Arabia, a firm backer of Hadi, denounced the "terrorist attacks" and offered to transport victims to its hospitals for treatment.
Iran, accused of backing the Houthis, "strongly condemned" the bombings.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called the blasts an "absolute catastrophe," adding that Yemen is "one of those countries where the crisis worsens" daily.
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