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Anti-Houthi protesters shout slogans against the dissolution of Yemen's parliament and the takeover by the armed Shi'ite Muslim Houthi group, during a rally in the southwestern city of Taiz, February 10, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi

The UK and the U.S. embassies in Yemen asked staffers out and suspended operations on Wednesday. The embassies also asked their citizens to leave the Middle Eastern country at the earliest.

The U.S. embassy has been working in Yemen on a limited number of staff since January. The Arab country is potentially on the brink of a violence civil war as it is without any clear leadership at the moment. Houthi rebels earlier dissolved parliament and took control of key government facilities. President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi was put on house arrest. Later he resigned.

A U.S. State Department travel warning was issued on Wednesday that said that the level of instability and on-going threats in Yemen were extremely concerning. The warning also indicated that there was a “risk of kidnapping” as the U.S. government expressed its concern about possible terrorist attacks on Western facilities, CNN reports.

Even though American people may be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, according to the warning; the U.S. government has no plans to sponsor an evacuation program for its citizens. The statement says that such evacuations are facilitated by the government only when there are no other commercial alternatives available. The U.S. embassy said on its website on Sunday that the consular services had been suspended “until further notice.”

The British government followed the U.S. lead and closed its embassy as well. Tobias Ellwood, the minister for the Middle East, issued a statement on Wednesday that confirmed all embassy staff in Sana’a had left. The statement also asked all UK nationals to leave the country “immediately.”

According to U.S. employees, the evacuation has been taking place for some days as they were getting rid of weapons and documents. The Guardian reports that the U.S. ambassador asked the employees that the U.S. government might ask the Algerian or the Turkish embassies to cooperate with them during the evacuation process.

According to reports, German and French embassies are also getting rid of documents and are in the process of evacuating. However, there is no confirmation yet on the suspension of those embassies in Yemen. The embassies have given two months’ paid leave to local staff.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au