SANAA - Fresh clashes broke out Monday between the army and supporters of a rebel preacher in Yemen, a military source said, as residents reported the soldiers were facing tough resistance. "The fighting resumed on Monday morning with supporters of Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi," holed out in his stronghold of Maran, in the province of Saada near the border with Saudi Arabia, the source said. According to the latest unofficial toll, some 200 people have been killed in the fighting since it began on June 18 in the vast rugged terrain of Maran. The source could not say if the latest exchange resulted in any deaths. Residents said the army has faced fierce opposition from Huthi's armed men, estimated to number up to 3,000. "For the past three days, the army has withdrawn from three positions at the top of the mountains because of the tactics adopted by Huthi's supporters," one resident said.
| A good reporter would have told us what those tactics are. |
"The army has suffered human losses in the fighting" over the past few days, another resident said, adding that dozens of wounded soldiers had been evacuated. The authorities have offered a 10 million rial (55,000 dollar) reward for information leading to the capture of the Zaidi preacher, a former MP whom they accuse of seeking to foment sectarian strife. The Zaidis are a moderate Shiite Muslim sect dominant in northwestern Yemen but in the minority in the mainly Sunni country.
| He's a moderate? Oh wait, they said "moderate Shite", never mind. |
Troops and police stepped up their offensive against the self-styled "Emir al-Mumineen", or Prince of Believers, after the abandonment of a mediation effort by MPs and other dignitaries on June 28. Earlier this week, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has accused foreign elements of supporting Huthi's uprising, called on the preacher to turn himself in, promising him a fair trial.
| Since he's a Shite, I guess we know which foreign elements he's talking about. |
According to Saleh, the preacher heads the "Faithful Youth" organisation, formed in 1997 as a breakaway from the Islamist opposition movement Al-Haq.
| With 3000 members, that would make it a faction, too many for a splinter group. |
| The Popular Front for the Liberation of Judea, now there was a splinter group. |
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