Yemen Prime Minister Resigns Amid Rebel Clashes

Yemen's official SABA news agency reports that the country's prime minister resigned after a stretch of violence left more than 140 dead.

Yemen's prime minster submitted his resignation to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi on Sunday following days of chaos and violence that left more than 140 dead and thousands fleeing their homes in and around the capital city of Sanaa.

Yemen's official news agency, SABA, gave no additional details about Mohammed Salem Bassindwa's resignation, nor whether the president had accepted it.

Bassindwa's move came as Hawthi rebels took control of a key military base and other government offices in Sanaa. However, there is some confusion about the timing of the resignation because the Shiite rebel group was due to sign a deal brokered by the U.N. special envoy to Yemen to end the fighting.

The Hawthis, a Shiite group whose power base is in northern Yemen, are demanding a new government and more political power for their community.

Yemen has remained unstable since the 2011 protests that led to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh forced resignation in 2012.