Rebels kill ex-leader

VETERAN former president Ali Abdullah Saleh has been killed in a shooting after switching sides in Yemen’s civil war, abandoning his Iranaligned Houthi allies in favour of a Saudi-led coalition.

Sources in the Houthi militia said its fighters stopped Saleh’s armoured vehicle with an RPG rocket outside the embattled capital Sanaa on Monday and then shot him dead. Sources in Saleh’s party confirmed he died in the attack.

Unverified footage of his bloodied body lolling in a blanket circulated just days after he tore up his alliance with the Houthis.