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| Arabia |
| Ten civilians killed as Yemeni Houthis advance into Qaeda stronghold |
| 2014-10-27 |
| [Al Ahram] Around 10 non-combatants were killed as Shi'ite Moslem Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to Americaâ¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews... fighters backed by Yemeni government fire fought into strongholds of al Qaeda and its Sunni tribal allies in the centre of the country on Sunday, local rustics said. They said the Yemeni army pounded fighters of al Qaeda's local wing, Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet... , and local tribes with air strikes, artillery and Katuysha rockets in al-Baydah province, about 160 km (100 miles) southeast of the capital Sanaa. "Around 10 non-combatants were killed and a number were maimed, including women and kiddies," one tribal source said. "But because it is dark and due to the continuing festivities, we were unable to retrieve all the victims," he told Rooters, adding that dozens of families had fled the fighting. There were no details of casualties among the fighters. The northern-based Houthis established themselves as power brokers in Yemen last month by capturing Sanaa against scant resistance from the administration of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, angering al Qaeda and Sunni Moslem tribal allies. Another tribal source said heavy fighting was underway in the Khobza area, another stronghold held by Ansar al-Sharia and its allies, in al-Baydah. "The Houthis are advancing to control the rest of Qaifa (tribal) areas and the night could see even more violent confrontations," the tribal official, who declined to be named, told Rooters by telephone. The Houthis, with Yemeni army backing, earlier battled their way to al-Manasseh, a small town regarded as the main Ansar al-Sharia stronghold in the area. Tribal sources said the Ansar al-Sharia fighters withdrew to another district called Bakla, about 3 km (two miles) away. |
| Posted by:Fred |