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10 Yemenis killed by landmines in north Yemen, Shi’ite rebels blamed

23 March 2012 19:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A total of 10 Yemeni displaced people were killed by landmines on Friday in northwest Yemen, the country’s Interior Ministry said, blaming the incident on northern Shi’ite rebels, APA rteports quoting Xinhua.

"A total of 10 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were killed when three landmines exploded after they left a refugee camp for their village in Kishir district in the northwestern province of Hajja," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

Some 15 others were wounded, the ministry said, accusing northern Shi’ite rebels led by Abdulmalik al-Houthi of planting the landmines.

Hajja is home to nearly 5,500 IDPs who fled their villages in Hajja after deadly sectarian war between pro-opposition Sunni tribesmen and the Shi’ite rebels erupted.

On Aug. 26, 2010, the Yemeni government and the Shi’ite group signed an agreement in the Qateri capital of Doha to cement a fragile cease-fire to end an on-and-off war since 2004, but the rebels’ clashes with local tribesmen are still rocking the region.

The sectarian conflict has recently spread to the northern provinces of Hajja, Saada, al-Jouf and Amran.

Recent statistics of aid agencies showed that the number of IDPs fleeing conflicts in Yemen during the past two years have reached nearly half a million who were received in refugee camps in 11 provinces.

The statistics of the aid agencies also showed that about 13, 500 Yemenis had recently fled their homes due to the latest escalation in sectarian conflicts in northern provinces and government’s war against al-Qaida militants in southern regions.

Since anti-government protests erupted in late January 2011, the Houthi-led rebels have been attempting to expand their control over the restive northern provinces after the government’s control was weakened by the protests.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has promised to launch a national dialogue to settle disputes between all political factions.