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| Arabia |
| 7 Troops among Several Dead as Yemen Army, Shiites Clash |
| 2014-06-03 |
| [AnNahar] Seven soldiers and several other people were killed Monday in festivities between the Yemeni army and Shiite Houthis close to the capital, tribal and medical sources said. The festivities erupted after troops tried to expel rebels from a strategic position near Amran controlling the road to Sanaa, local officials said. The air force intervened to back the army and its allies from the Sunni Islah party, they said. The rebels, known also as Ansarullah and backed by local tribes, retaliated by attacking telecom installations and blocked traffic on the main Amran-Sanaa road, the officials said. "Seven soldiers were killed and 16 others maimed in the battle," a medical source told AFP. Tribal sources said 18 rebels were also killed, a toll that could not be verified. The rebels' front man, Mohammed Abdulsalam, declined to provide a corpse count in a telephone call with AFP. The rebels are suspected of trying to enlarge their sphere of influence as Yemen is split into six regions, pushing out from their mountain strongholds in the far north to areas closer to Sanaa. The rebels complained Yemen would be divided into rich and poor regions under a federalization plan agreed in February following national talks as part of a political transition. Huthis have been fighting the central government for years, complaining of marginalization under ex-president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... , who was ousted in a 2012 uprising. In February, they seized areas of Amran province in fighting with tribes that left more than 150 people dead. |
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