Yemen at ‘dangerous crossroads’ as police kill seven rebel protesters

Troops clash with Shiite demonstrators, who Saudi Arabia has accused of "conspiring" to destabilise the country, after rebel chief Abdulmalik Al Houthi vows to step up protests.

Shiite Houthis help a fellow protester suffering from tear gas inhalation during clashes with riot police near the cabinet building in Sanaa on Tuesday. Mohamed Al Sayaghi / Reuters

SANAA // Yemeni police shot dead seven Shiite rebel activists who were attempting to storm the government headquarters on Tuesday and troops clashed with rebels on Sanaa’s outskirts, amid warnings the country is at a “dangerous crossroads”.

The violence comes after rebel chief Abdulmalik Al Houthi vowed to step up protests and with Saudi Arabia accusing rebels of “conspiring” to destabilise Yemen.

Activists have been camped out in the capital for weeks in a campaign to bring down the government and secure greater representation in state institutions.

Thousands of Houthi rebel activists blocked main thoroughfares in central Sanaa on Tuesday, with some of them marching on government headquarters, witnesses said.

They were met by anti-riot police who fired live rounds, tear gas and water cannon, “killing seven of them and wounding dozens,” said activist Khaled Al Madani.

In a statement on the official Saba news agency, an interior ministry official confirmed that police had stopped protesters, who “tried to storm ... the premises of the council of ministers.”

AFP could not independently verify the Houthi toll.

Later in the afternoon, troops prevented a Houthi vehicle loaded with arms from entering the capital, sparking a clash with the rebels in Hiziaz, a southern entrance to Sanaa, a security official said.

An army officer was wounded in the clash, the official said.

On Sunday, the rebels said two demonstrators were shot dead and around 40 wounded in clashes with police special forces near the interior ministry, where the rebels have been expanding their sit-in and blocking a main road leading to the airport.

Houthi protesters have forced shut the ministries of electricity and telecommunications and rebels on Monday prevented government vehicles from entering or leaving the capital.

Speaking late Monday, the Houthi commander vowed “we will continue our escalation”, while saying “negotiations will continue”.

So far, the rebel movement has rejected overtures from president Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi in offering a new prime minister and reducing a disputed fuel price hike.

Both concessions were core demands of the Houthis who launched their protest on August 18, after battling loyalist forces for months for control of key cities north of Sanaa.

Yemen has been locked in a protracted transition since long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh was forced from power in February 2012 after a deadly 11-month uprising.

The International Crisis Group warned on Monday that “Yemen’s troubled transition is at a crossroads more dangerous than any since 2011”.

“The situation is tense,” the Brussels-based think tank said in a statement.

Unless an “inclusive settlement” based on Mr Hadi’s initiative is reached, the “alternative is a conflict”, it said.

“While the Houthis’ ambitions are unclear and evolving, the protests are part of a bargaining process through which the movement hopes to become dominant in the north and more powerful on the national level,” it said.

Analysts say the rebels are trying to establish themselves as the top political force in the northern highlands bordering Saudi Arabia, where Shiites are the majority.

* Agence France-Press