Houthi forces advance on Yemen president’s stronghold

Dozens killed as rebel forces clash with Hadi loyalists in battles for towns north of Aden.

Protesters carry away a man affected by tear gas during clashes with Houthi forces in Taez on March 24, 2015, that left at least five people dead and 80 wounded. Anees Mahyoub / Reuters

ADEN // Anti-government forces advanced on Tuesday towards president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi’s refuge of Aden in Southern Yemen, fighting fierce battles with loyalist forces in which dozens of people were killed.

The Shiite Houthi militia, backed by troops allied to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, clashed with forces loyal to Mr Hadi in at least two southern provinces as they pushed on Aden.

In the southern cities of Taez and Al Torba, the militia shot dead eight demonstrators as protests intensified against the Houthi presence, in what Amnesty International denounced as a “shocking disregard for human life”.

The militiamen have seized large parts of Yemen and, in recent days, have been moving towards the city of Aden, where Mr Hadi fled after escaping house arrest in the capital Sanaa last month.

Yemen is increasingly divided between a north controlled by the Houthis, allegedly backed by Iran, and a south dominated by Hadi supporters.

The UN Security Council, Western countries and Gulf states have backed Mr Hadi as the country’s legitimate ruler, and his foreign minister called Monday for a Gulf intervention to confront the Houthis.

Tuesday’s clashes came after the Houthis on Sunday seized the airport and a nearby military base in Taez, 180 kilometres north of Aden and seen as a strategic entry point to Hadi’s southern refuge.

Tribal sources said at least 30 people died late on Monday as the Houthis and their allies clashed with tribesmen loyal to Hadi in the central Baida province and in Marib, east of Sanaa.

The Houthis have been increasingly joined in the fight by troops loyal to Mr Saleh, who resigned in 2012 following nationwide protests but who has been accused of allying with the Shiite militia as he seeks to regain influence.

Military sources in South Yemen said reinforcements from the army’s Al Hamza Brigade – still loyal to Mr Saleh – had been sent to the town of Qatabah, some 120 kilometres north of Aden.

They were joined by dozens of tanks belonging to the 133rd Brigade, also still loyal to Mr Saleh.

These troops clashed with Hadi supporters in the surrounding province and took control of the local government headquarters in provincial capital Daleh.

Ten people were killed and several wounded in fighting for control of an army camp in northern Daleh.

Clashes also erupted in the province of Lahj, just north of Aden, where forces loyal to Mr Hadi had deployed in anticipation of an attack.

With authorities under increasing pressure, acting foreign minister Riyadh Yassin said Mr Hadi had asked for military help from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

“Hadi has asked the UN and the (GCC’s) Desert Shield force to intervene and confront the Houthis,” Mr Yassin said on Monday in an interview with Saudi-owned Al Hadath television.

“Yemen has asked the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone on airports seized by the Houthis.”

Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud Al Faisal warned on Monday that Arab countries may take action “to protect interests from Houthi aggression”.

The Houthis, who hail from Yemen’s mountainous north, have not been welcomed by the mainly Sunni residents in other parts of the country and have cracked down on protests against their presence.

Five people were killed and about 80 wounded when the Houthis opened fire on Tuesday as demonstrators gathered for the third consecutive day to protest the militia’s arrival in Taez.

They also shot dead three others among a crowd that protested at a Houthi base in Al Torba.

The bloodshed prompted Taez provincial governor Shawki Ahmed Hayel to resign in protest.

Amnesty International’s Said Boumedouha said “human rights in Yemen are in free-fall as even peaceful protest becomes a life-threatening activity.”

In the town of Kirsh in Lahj province, two more civilians were killed in shootings by anti-Hadi forces.

The turmoil has raised fears that extremists will exploit the security vacuum in a country already home to what Washington considers Al Qaeda’s deadliest offshoot – Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The rival ISIL group claimed its first attack in Yemen on Friday with suicide bomb attacks on two mosques in the capital attended by Houthis that killed 142 people.

* Agence France-Presse