A fragile ceasefire between the army and Houthi-led rebels in northern Yemen has been put under renewed strain following the deaths of three government followers and a rebel in clashes that left a dozen others injured, local witnesses from the Bani Awair area of Saada Governorate said.
“Both sides used small and medium-sized weapons in the fighting that broke out after Houthis tried to take control of a village in the area [in Bani Awair] to set up a training camp for their followers,” Mohamed Shayea, a Bani Awair resident, told IRIN on 31 May.
The Houthis accuse Bani Awair local authorities of giving fighters cash and weapons to attack their followers.
“Local tribesmen, receiving support from the government, set up an ambush against many of our men, killing one of them and injuring another two,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdussalam said, adding that the Houthis were determined to uphold the 11 February ceasefire despite provocation.
He accused the government of fomenting tensions just as life was gradually returning to some sort of normality in the war-ravaged north, a charge the government denied and lobbed back at the rebels.
Abdullah Dhahban, a Saada council member, said the government was determined to restore peace and stability to Saada and blamed Houthis for hindering the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes.
“Efforts to promptly return IDPs have stopped as a result of ongoing violations committed by Houthi gunmen,” Dhahban said.
Read more of the story here at the IRIN news service:
YEMEN: Fatal clashes strain Saada ceasefire
Related articles by Zemanta
- YEMEN: Measles Deaths on the Rise in Saada (netnewspublisher.com)
- YEMEN: The Ever-present Landmine Threat (netnewspublisher.com)
