Seven killed in Shiite rebels attack in N. Yemen

At least seven people were killed on Monday in an attack by Yemeni Shiite rebels against pro-government tribesmen in the north of the capital Sanaa, a local councilman said.

Five tribesmen loyal to the government and two Houthi-led Shiite rebels were killed when the attack was launched in revenge for the killing of a rebel in Houth city in southern Harf Sufian district of Amran province, some 50 km north of Sanaa, said the councilman who asked not to be named.

He said another tribesman was seriously wounded in the attack in which rocket-propelled grenade and heavy machine guns were used against the tribesmen.

The tribesmen belong to the al-Osaimat tribe, the ancestral homeland of a number of the ruling elites.

Last week, the Yemeni Interior Ministry said Houthi rebels seized a government office and a hospital in the northern province of al-Jouf, northeast of Sanaa.

Yemen has witnessed sporadic battles since 2004 between government troops and the Shiite Houthi rebels whom the government accused of seeking to re-establish the clerical rule overthrown by the 1962 Yemeni revolution.

On Feb. 11, the government and Shiite rebels reached a cease- fire agreement to end the conflict in the northern part of the country. However, both sides repeatedly accused each other of breaching truce.

Source: Xinhua