SANAA - Shia Muslim rebels have kidnapped a Yemeni man in the country's north and also briefly held a group of Saudi citizens, the government said, threatening a fragile truce with Sanaa. The northern rebels seized the Yemeni in the Harf Sufyan district and took him to an unknown location, Yemeni security services said in a statement.A number of the rebels, who complain of discrimination by Sanaa, held the Saudis captive for a few hours but then freed them, said the statement which was issued on Friday.
| Were these Saudis who happened to be wandering through Shia territory, or were they dragged across the border, as the Houthis had done before? |
Neighbouring Saudi Arabia was drawn into the war last November after insurgents seized Saudi border areas. Fighting between Saudis and the rebels has since ended.
In Yemen's south, a different group of secessionists shot dead a soldier in the province of Lahej, the defence ministry said. Security forces had earlier arrested Bassam Al Sayyid, the ministry reported in its online newspaper 'September 26', describing the man as the leader of a local criminal gang.
Southern media reported that the shooting was in revenge for Sayyid's arrest on Thursday, but did not say whether any of those involved were secessionists.