Fighting between Houthis kills dozens as Arab Coalition air strike takes out explosives expert

Dozens of Houthi fighters were killed on Saturday when a leadership quarrel between rival rebel factions in north-west Yemen turned violent.

The clashes continued into Sunday in the Magash district of Sada city, a stronghold of the rebel group, a Yemeni army spokesman said.

The Iran-backed Houthis have controlled large parts of the country since 2014.

AbdulAdheem Al Houthi – a religious figure in the rebel group – challenged the movement’s leader, Abdulmalik Al Houthi, the army spokesman said.

Supporters of the Houthi leader attacked homes in Al Humaidan, an area affiliated with AbdulAdheem.

The spokesman claimed dozens of people were also wounded in the fighting.

It is not the first time that schisms within the Houthi movement led to violence.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking Houthi leader was killed in an air strike on Sunday near Hodeidah, said a member of the pro-government Giants brigades of the South Yemen Movement.

An Arab Coalition jet targeted Hussein Koushaima, a Houthi mines expert, and 25 of his men near the Kilo 16 area east of the city.

Koushaima was a division-level leader, responsible for training elite Houthi units in Saada.

He was believed to have been trained in Lebanon in making and planting landmines and improvised explosives.

Photos shared by pro-Houthi social media and news accounts showed Koushaima’s funeral in the Saada on Sunday.

The coalition says retaking Hodeidah is critical to ending a Houthi stranglehold over the strategic port city.

Fighting paused as the UN tried to organise peace talks in Geneva last month but after Houthi delegates failed to arrive, the operation to take Hodeidah resumed.

AbdulAdheem Al Houthi, a religious figure in the rebel group, challenged the movement ’s leader, Abdulmalik Al Houthi, says an army spokesman