12 killed in Yemen
2012-09-23 12:33
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Yemen
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Sanaa - Twelve fighters were killed in northern Yemen on Saturday in ongoing clashes between Shi'ite tribesmen allied with the country's former leader and ultraconservative Sunnis, security officials said, as the new president grapples with challenges to his authority.
Tensions have long existed between Salafi Islamists, who are Sunni Muslims, and former Hawthi rebels, who are Shi'ite Muslims. Nearly 200 people died in fighting late last year between the two sides in northern Saada province.
The latest clashes in neighbouring Amran province revealed a new alliance between Hawthis and loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom the group fought in a costly six-year war until a ceasefire was reached in early 2010.
They also underline the larger regional rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia for influence in northern Yemen, an impoverished nation on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, at the doorstep of several oil-producing Gulf nations.
Residents trapped in street fighting in the city of Raada in Amran say the Salafis from the opposition Islah Party were fighting Hawthis teamed up with Saleh loyalists, the two sides firing at each other with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons. In another sign of a new alliance, Sheikh Ali Sinan al-Ghouli, a Saleh supporter, told The Associated Press he travelled to the area to assist the Hawthi rebels.
The clashes come a week after Yemen's government installed new governors from the Islah Party in Amran, about 70km northwest of the capital Sanaa, and two other provinces around Saada where Hawthis are concentrated.
According to military analyst Mohammed Ahmed al-Subayhi, the decision by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to appoint Islah Party members as governors reflects a larger regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
"Saudi Arabia believes that any Hawthi expansion in the region enhances Iran's role in Yemen and poses a threat to the kingdom," al-Subayhi said.
The retired military general added that the Sunni Hashid tribe in Amran is closely aligned with Saudi Arabia.
- AP
