Sana’a, September 06: Deadly fighting flared up in northern Yemen Saturday, between Yemeni troops and Shiite rebels, leaving dozens of people killed.
“The armed forces and rebels engaged in violent clashes overnight which continued until dawn on Saturday in Malaheez and Hafr Sufyan,” a military source told.
“Dozens of people have been killed and wounded in both camps.”
No official confirmation of the toll was available.
The fighting came after a brief ceasefire broke down in the northern province of Saada.
The government announced on Friday evening a ceasefire in response to requests from humanitarian agencies to help ensure the safety of civilians.
In response, the Shiite rebels said they were ready to cooperate with a UN plan for a “humanitarian corridor” to allow aid into areas where fighting is taking place.
The Yemeni government has been battling Shiite rebels in the north, leaving hundreds of people dead and forcing thousands to flee their homes.
Yemeni officials say the rebels have been fighting to restore the Zaidi imamate, which was overthrown in a 1962 republican coup in Yemen.
The rebels, known as Houthis, say they are defending their villages against what they call government aggression.
One of the poorest countries outside of Africa, Yemen has been struggling with several conflicts in addition to its significant economic challenges.
Deterioration
The Yemeni army accused the Shiite rebels of violating the ceasefire.
They “broke (the ceasefire) and resumed their acts of sabotage in the Malaheez and Hafr Sufyan regions,” a spokesman for the senior security commission said in a statement.
“They will suffer the consequences.”
The new fighting came a day after the Yemeni army said three rebel leaders had been killed in an attack in Malaheez at dawn on Friday.
Several vehicles delivering weapons and food to rebel strongholds in Saada province were destroyed or damaged in that assault, and security forces removed barriers the rebels had put across main roads to halt the army’s advance, the army said.
And in fighting at an unnamed village northwest of Saada city, 15 rebels were killed on Friday afternoon, a military source said.
Witnesses also reported that the army had moved heavy reinforcements into Harf Sufyan over the two days preceding the ceasefire.
The latest fighting, which broke out on August 11 has displaced more than 35,000 people from their homes.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has warned that Saada city, the stronghold of the rebels, is practically cut off from the outside world, and called for humanitarian corridors to allow people out and aid in.
“The situation is deteriorating by the day,” a UNHCR spokesman had said.
-Agencies