The deposed president
of Yemen who ruled the nation for more than three decades has died in an outbreak of violence in the country’s civil war.
SANAA, Yemen — Ali Abdullah Saleh, the deposed president of Yemen who used guile and charisma to rule the nation for more than three decades, has died in the latest outbreak of violence in the country’s civil war, members of Saleh’s political party said Monday.
Saleh’s death was also announced by the Yemeni rebel group that gained strength after he was pushed from power in 2011 and that later made an alliance with Saleh and forces loyal to him. The Associated Press also reported the death.
Initial reports indicated he was killed by the Houthi rebel group.
Murky reports indicated that Saleh’s vehicle came under attack by rebel gunfire, or else that he had been executed as he fled a rebel ambush.
Images circulating on social media showed Saleh’s body cradled in a floral blanket, surrounded by fighters, with what appeared to be a large head wound.
Saleh’s apparently violent end removed one the Arab world’s most resilient and ruthless strongmen, a onetime U.S. ally who was toppled six years ago during the Arab Spring protests that swept the region but who managed to retain his influence.
His death left Yemen, chronically impoverished, riven by violence and in the throes of a catastrophic civil war, facing even greater uncertainty.
The war began in 2015 and has killed more than 10,000 people while drawing in a Saudi-led military coalition backed by the United States.
The Houthi rebels and Saleh forces — bitter foes for years — had struck an alliance of convenience in the latest conflict.
The march across Yemen by their combined forces stunned the country’s neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, which viewed the Houthis as a proxy force for Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional enemy.
Over the last year, the multisided conflict had settled into a bloody stalemate. No serious effort to negotiate an end to the crisis has been undertaken for months.
Saleh’s death came as the battle took another confounding turn this week. His party’s alliance with the Houthis disintegrated, and the two sides fought bloody clashes in Sanaa, the capital.