Houthis storm dialogue conference's office in Yemen's Sanaa

Houthi militants have stormed the administrative headquarters of Yemen's national dialogue conference in capital Sanaa, the administration said on Thursday.

"An armed group loyal to the Houthis stormed the [national dialogue conference's] secretariat office at a late hour last night," the administration said in a statement.

It said that the Houthis have deployed their own armed supporters around the building.

"This act was one of many which aim at obstructing the path to a peaceful settlement in the country," the administration said.

It went on to say that it has suspended its activities in Sanaa but that its operations will continue in other provinces.

UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar said on Wednesday that he had told the UN Security Council of his "frustration" over the Shiite Houthi group's reluctance to heed the council's recommendations for ending the country's political crisis.

In February, deposed Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi fled Sanaa – where he had been kept under house arrest by Houthi militants for weeks – to the southern city of Aden.

Upon his arrival, Hadi dismissed as "null" and "illegitimate" all recent Houthi-issued decrees. He also wrote to Yemen's parliament withdrawing a resignation he had tendered earlier.

On 6 February, the Houthis issued what they describe as a constitutional declaration dissolving parliament and establishing a 551-member transitional council.

The declaration, however, was rejected by most of Yemen's political forces – along with some neighbouring Gulf countries – which described it as a coup against constitutional legitimacy.