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Three killed in Yemen clashes, straining truce

29 April 2010 02:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Yemeni Shi’ite rebels shot dead three pro-government tribesmen, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday, in violence that could strain a fragile truce aimed at ending a civil war that drew in Saudi Arabia last year, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
Yemen’s central government agreed a truce in February to halt the northern war, which has raged on and off since 2004. Sporadic violence has swelled in recent weeks, often involving tribesmen who had fought alongside the state during the northern conflict.
In the country’s south, where the government is trying to curb a secessionist movement, more than 20 armed men surrounded local security headquarters on Wednesday demanding the release of several separatists from prison.
Local officials said security forces were sending reinforcements to the besieged base and were also negotiating with the group.
Yemen has come under international pressure to quell domestic conflicts in order to focus on quashing al Qaeda.
A failed December attack on a U.S.-bound plane sparked concerns of an al Qaeda resurgence in Yemen where its regional arm is based. Those fears were stoked by a suicide bomb attack that targeted but failed to kill Britain’s ambassador to Yemen on Monday.
Wednesday’s Interior Ministry statement said the Shi’ite rebels had opened fire on members of the Ben Aziz tribe, killing three tribesmen and wounding three others including a passerby.
The Shi’ite rebels, who complain of discrimination by the government, said they attacked the tribesmen in response to an earlier assault on the same day when the tribesmen opened fire on a market and wounded three people.
They also accused the tribe of cutting off the main road connecting rebel stronghold Saada to the capital Sanaa.