Yemen latest news today: President resigns after rebels take palace

SANAA, Yemen – Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi resigned Thursday after Houthi rebels locked him in his presidential palace and the rest of the government's top-ranking officials resigned, according to reports. Yemen functions as one of the United States' key allies in the Middle East and is also being subjected to drone strikes targeting AQAP militants in the country.

"We apologize to you personally and to the honorable chamber and to the Yemeni people after we reached a dead end," a government spokesman quoted Hadi's resignation letter as saying. It was addressed to the speaker of parliament, who becomes interim head of state under the constitution.

Hadi's resignation was a surprise, as earlier this week the president assured the world that he was still "in charge." His resignation came after Minister Khaled Bahahad spoke for the government's decision to step down, saying they did not want to be swept into "an unconstructive political maze."

"(We resigned) so that we are not made party to what is going on and what will happen," Bahahad wrote in a letter, which was posted to Twitter by Yemen Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf.

The Houthi rebels represent Shiite Muslims and other minorities who have felt marginalized in the country. In order for peace to continue and the fighting to cease, the rebels demand more political power, a Yemeni official told CNN.

The Houthis' defeat of the presidential guards has and subsequent takeover has added to disarray in a country where the United States is also carrying out drone strikes against one of the most powerful branches of al Qaeda.

On Thursday the capital Sanaa remained largely shut down, witnesses said, even though the airport and seaport in the southern city of Aden resumed work on Thursday, having closed for a day in protest at the Houthi offensive against Hadi's administration.