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Death toll rises to 20 in sectarian violence in northern Yemen

23 September 2012 02:19 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least 20 people were killed in two-day sectarian clashes between Shiite and Sunni armed groups in northern Yemen, after security deteriorated following the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, tribal sources said Saturday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"More than five Sunni armed tribesmen were killed later in the day in clashes with Shiite Houthi rebels, putting the death toll of the two-day sectarian violence to at least 20," local councilman Saleh al-Makhlous in northern Amran province told Xinhua.

An earlier tribal source had put the death toll of the two-day clashes at 15, 12 of whom were killed earlier Saturday, and most of the killed are Sunni extremists belonging to the leading Islamic Islah Party, also known as Muslim Brotherhood Party.

Fighting is still ongoing in the night after attempts of tribal mediations collapsed, the official said.

The clashes erupted on Friday in the city of Rayda in Amran province, after the Shiite rebels stormed a Sunni-held mosque to attempt to control it, killing three Sunni followers and injuring other dozens.

Amran province, about 50 km north of the capital Sanaa, has witnessed a deadly sectarian fighting between the rival groups over the few past months, leaving hundreds of people dead.

The Shiite rebels, also known as Houthis, who controls most parts of northern Saada province, signed a ceasefire deal with the Yemeni government in August 2010, putting an end to an on-and-off war since 2004.

However, the Shiites then involved in sectarian clashes with local armed Sunni tribesmen, which rocked the northern regions and forced thousands of local residents to flee the conflict to remote areas.

The tension escalated after the central government’s control is weakened by one-year protests against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, as the well-armed Shiite group has been trying to take advantage of the security vacuum to expand their control over the country’s northern regions.

The Yemeni government accused Iran of arming the Shiite sect to expand control over Yemeni regions bordering the Sunni-backed Saudi Arabia.

Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who took office in February in a political settlement, has promised to launch a national dialogue to settle disputes between all political factions and focus efforts on combating with resurgent al-Qaida militancy.