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| 11 April 2005 | Monday | 01 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426 |
50 killed as Yemeni forces, rebels clash
Yemeni forces have killed at least 40 rebels and captured 50 others since Friday, they said, adding that 10 government soldiers had also died in fierce fighting that has left close to 270 people dead in less than a fortnight.
Government forces are trying to track down followers of Sheikh Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi with whom they have been locked in combat in Saada province since the end of March.
Tribal sources said on Friday that insurgents had retreated north to the rugged Lawdiya area as the noose tightened around the members of Huthi’s Faithful Youth movement.
Around 270 people have now been reported killed and dozens wounded on both sides since the fighting began between troops and police and supporters of Huthi, a staunch Zaidi preacher killed by the army last September.
Huthi was killed nearly three months after he started a rebellion in the northwest, near the border with Saudi Arabia, triggering clashes that left more than 400 people dead.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reportedly asked a new mediation committee to work with local authorities to persuade Huthi’s father Badr Eddin, who authorities say is now the rebels’ spiritual leader, to surrender along with militants who have attacked security targets.
This follows official reports of the failure of another mediation committee set up at Saleh’s behest to persuade the rebels to turn themselves in.
However, tribal sources have said the rebels are being led by Abdullah Ayedh al-Razami, a top Huthi aide, Madani, and Huthi’s brother, Abdul Malak.
Razami surrendered to authorities along with dozens of supporters 10 days after Huthi’s death was announced, but he was later released and returned to Saada.
The authorities had accused the slain preacher of seeking to foment sectarian strife. But the preacher told AFP last July the conflict was a result of his anti-US stand.
The Zaidis are a moderate Shia sect dominant in northwest Yemen but in the minority in the mainly Sunni country.—AFP
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