Houthis make gains in northern Yemen

Mon Mar 21, 2011

Yemeni Houthi fighters are now in control of the northern province of Sa'ada following clashes with security forces which left at 20 people dead.

The fighters have also clashed with Yemeni government forces in the neighboring province of al-Jawf, local sources said.

"Fighting between Shia rebels, Yemeni troops and their tribal allies killed 20 people in the north" AFP quoted the sources as saying on Monday.

The Shia Houthi fighters, who have fought the Yemeni regime for their rights, have been frequently pounded by Yemeni fighter jets and helicopter gunships.

The fighting broke out on Monday after Yemeni troops tried to retake the control of a strategic military installation near the northern province of Al-Jawf, which the Houthi fighters had taken over.

The Yemeni government launched Operation Scorched Earth in 2007 to uproot the Houthis, whom Sana'a accuses of seeking to restore the Zaydi imamate rule, overthrown in a 1962 coup.

The fresh clashes came as thousands of protesters across the country have been calling for the ouster of embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh since mid-January. Dozens have been killed and hundreds more wounded during anti-government protests.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171018.html.