Violence flares over use of mosque
SANAA, Yemen — Clashes between rebel factions in the Yemeni capital Sanaa continued for a second day on Thursday, with Houthi troops moving against forces loyal to a former president and accusing them of fomenting a coup with the help of the United Arab Emirates, security officials said.
Shiite Houthi rebels have largely taken control of a southern Sanaa neighbourhood centred around a mosque named after Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president, they said. The two allied factions control much of Yemen’s north and are facing off against a Saudi- led, U. S.backed coalition fighting on behalf of the country’s internationally recognized government.
It appeared the clashes began Wednesday evening with a dispute over use of the mosque in the Sabeen neighbourhood, where the Houthis wanted to hold festivities for the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to talk to reporters.
Yemen fell into chaos following its 2011 Arab Spring uprising that deposed Saleh, its longtime autocratic ruler who later joined forces with the Shiite Houthis to drive out his successor, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The Saudi- led coalition has been battling the rebels and Saleh’s forces since March 2015.
Al- Qaida has taken advantage of the security breakdown to seize territory and expand operations in impoverished Yemen, which sits along strategic oil shipping routes.
The Houthis in Sanaa reportedly were supported by reinforcements from their northern stronghold and drove out forces loyal to Saleh with rocket- propelled grenades and machinegun fire, occupying buildings used by his political party in Thursday’s clashes.
Fighting between the two groups killed some 10 fighters from both sides a day earlier, officials said, with combat spilling over to the neighbourhood that includes the homes of Saleh’s family.
The Houthis said in a statement Thursday that the state would “enforce the law” and confront “anyone who deviates from the path of the battle of liberation, sovereignty and independence,” referring to their struggle against the Saudi- led alliance.