Egypt shut down its embassy in Yemen amid clashes between the Houthi Ansar Allah group and the presidential guards in Yemen, Egypt’s ambassador in Yemen said on Monday.
The embassy’s military, cultural, and press offices were also shut down, Ambassador Youssef al-Sharkawi added.
“There are strict instructions to close the Egyptian embassy in Yemen and its affiliated offices because of the heated events between Houthis and the Yemeni presidential guards,” Sharkawi told Aswat Masriya.
The Egyptian school in Yemen was also shut down, Sharkawi added.
Fighting broke out earlier in the day in the vicinity of the presidential palace in Sanaa between the Yemeni army and the Houthis, a Shia rebel movement which took control of the capital in September, 2014 and controls other parts of Yemen.
The Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs called on all Yemeni people to “completely stop the use of weapons” after intense fighting in the Yemeni capital, in a statement.