40 die in Yemen as rebels overrun rival strongholds

(MENAFN-Arab News) SANAA: Shiite rebels have overrun strongholds of a rival Sunni tribal group in fighting that has killed at least 40 people in northern Yemen in the last two days, tribal sources said on Sunday

The fighting compounds the challenges faced by US-allied Yemen, which is struggling to stabilize a country that is home to one of Al-Qaeda’s most active branches

One of the poorest countries in the Arab world, it has been in turmoil since mass protests in 2011 forced long-serving President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down

Tribal sources said Huthi fighters and their allies from the Hashed tribal federation seized control of Al-Khamri, the Al-Ahmar family tribal region in Omran province. An Al-Ahmar family home was burned

The Ansarullah website, run by the Huthi group, said its fighters and allies from Hashed were “pounding the fortifications of the militias of the Al-Ahmar sons” in Al-Khamri and Zu Anash areas in Omran province

“The Al-Ahmar militias and the religious hard-liners are fleeing from the two areas, along with military hardware and equipment,” it said

Tribal sources said that at least 30 Huthi rebels and 10 fighters from the Hashed tribe died in the fighting. There was no independent confirmation of the figures

The latest fighting was the most intense since clashes erupted in October. Shiite Huthi rebels, who control much of the northern Saada province on the border with Saudi Arabia, moved then against Salafis allied to the Al-Ahmar clan in Dammaj town. The Huthis accuse the Salafis of recruiting foreign fighters to attack them.