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Two killed in Shiite rebels clashes in north Yemen

19 September 2010 01:06 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A Yemeni border security guard and a pro-government tribesman were killed on Saturday in clashes with northern Houthi-led Shiite rebels in the country’s northeast province of al-Jouf, a security official of the Interior Ministry said, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

"The clashes erupted when the rebels, running a checkpoint at Ras al-Aqaba area of Barat district of al-Jouf, opened fire on another checkpoint run by pro-government armed tribesmen backed by border security forces," the official told Xinhua by phone.

The rebel’s bullets killed a border security guard and a pro- government tribesman on the spot, he said on condition of anonymity, identifying the killed pro-government tribesman as 27- year-old Faisal al-Ateeb.

"The situation is getting very tense as Houthis (rebels) were gathering, forming lines of defense," he added.

Early Saturday, the Interior Ministry accused the rebels of establishing another more checkpoint in Barat district.

"Rebels has set up a new checkpoint in Barat district, by now Houthis are running two checkpoints on a highway linking Barat of al-Jouf to the southeast province of Shabwa," the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Last week, the ministry accused the rebels of stepping up its militants in north provinces, which violated all truce deals including the latest peace accord brokered by Qatar.

It said in a statement on its website that the "rebel group has been intensifying the presence of its armed rebels in large-scale regions of Barat district of the northeast province of al-Jouf, which do terrorize the local residents."

It also said Houthi rebels were planning to seize government facilities in the district of Barat.

Early this month, the ministry charged the rebel group with deploying its gunmen along the main highways linking Harf Sufian district of Amran province to Saada province, as well as Harf Sufian to Barat District of al-Jouf.

Yemen has witnessed sporadic battles since 2004 between Yemeni government troops and rebels.

The government has been accusing the rebels of seeking to re- establish the clerical rule overthrown by the 1962 Yemeni revolution that created the Yemeni republic.

On Aug. 26, the Yemeni government and northern Shiite rebels signed an agreement in Doha to cement a fragile cease-fire in northern Yemen that ended sporadic battles since 2004.

The agreement, mediated by the Qatari government, set a timetable for implementing previous truce deals, including the 2008 Doha peace agreement and the Feb. 11, 2010 cease-fire deal.

However, Sanaa government and the rebel group were still trading accusations against each other over breaching the truce.