(VOVworld) - Yemeni Houthi rebels have seized control of state news agency SABA and the state TV station. Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf described this as "a step toward a coup" after Shiite Muslim militias fired at a motorcade carrying Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and clashed with government troops near the presidential palace.

Houthi fighters take up position on a street during clashes near the Presidential Palace in Sanaa January 19, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)

Sakkaf said no casualties were reported in the motorcade attack, which immediately followed the Prime Minister’s meeting with President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and a Houthi representative to deflate tensions in Yemen. Sakkaf added that the convoy of the Houthi representative also "came under fire" but did not elaborate further.