[Iraq Sun] Yemen's air force bombed Shiite Mohammedan fighters north of the capital city of Sanaa Saturday in fighting that caused "a large number of casualties," local officials said, after a recent truce between the Lions of Islam and government forces collapsed.The fighting in northern Yemen, which has taken on a sectarian tone, is further destabilizing a country struggling to overcome many problems, including a secessionist movement in its restive south and the nationwide spread of al-Qaeda insurgency.
Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America", Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ...
Shiite fighters, officially known as Ansarullah, blamed army units linked to the rival Sunni-Mohammedan Islah party for breaking the June 23 cease-fire on Friday when government troops advanced on an area in al-Jouf province.
A Yemeni government official said the army's advance on the town of al-Safra in the province north east of Sanaa was prompted by the failure of Houthi fighters to vacate positions in the area in compliance with the cease-fire.
Tribal sources in al-Jouf province, which is partly controlled by the Shi'ite Houthi rebels, said at least 18 people - 10 Houthis, five rustics and three soldiers - were killed in festivities Friday.
The fighting later expanded to the adjacent Omran province, where the Yemeni air force flew sorties and bombed Houthi positions around the scenic provincial capital early on Saturday.
Local government officials gave no precise casualty figures from the fighting, which included
In southeastern Yemen, state news agency Saba reported that one soldier had been killed and four maimed on Saturday in a "terrorist'' attack on a security compound in the Hajar area of Hadramout
...the formerly independent Qu'aiti state and sultanate, annexed by Communist South Yemen in 1968, encompassing a region along the Gulf of Aden, extending eastwards to the borders of the Dhofar region of Oman. The people are called Hadhramis and speak Hadhrami Arabic. The city Tarimis is estimated to contain the highest concentration of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad (PTUI) anywhere in the world, approximately seven in every square yard...
province. The agency gave no further details.
The cease-fire had largely held, with few reports of violations.