Aide denies president fled Aden; defense chief reportedly captured

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi remained in the southern port city of Aden on Wednesday after his tribal militia forces were defeated by the Shiite Houthi group in the neighboring Lahj province, a source at the presidential office told Xinhua.

Hadi is still in Aden to command his forces to fight against the Houthi group, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The Shiite Houthi fighters backed by security forces advanced in Yemen's south and took control of a strategic military air base in the southern province of Lahj early on Wednesday, a military official said.