World News

Member loyal to ex-president anticipating possible Huthi attack cut off streets while trying to seize district.

 

Residents of various neighbourhoods said they had barricaded themselves in their homes

SANAA- Fresh clashes forced schools shut and shops shuttered in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Sunday, as residents warned a three-year rebel alliance was crumbling into a "street war".

Witnesses said forces loyal to powerful ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh had cut off a number of streets in central Sanaa and deployed heavily in anticipation of a possible attack by the Huthi rebels.

Loyalists of the former strongman renewed a bid to seize control of Al-Jarraf district, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Huthis, while the rebels fortified their positions with dozens of vehicles mounted with machine guns.

Residents of various neighbourhoods said they had barricaded themselves in their homes to avoid snipers and shelling as clashes flared up around key ministries where the two sides had been working together just days before.

The education ministry cancelled classes Sunday, normally the start of the school week, out of concern for students and teachers.

Witnesses said some of the bodies from previous days' clashes were still strewn in the capital.

Iyad al-Othmani, 33, said he had not left his house for three days because of the clashes and tensions.

Mohammed Abdullah, a private sector employee, said his street had been cut off by militiamen and he was staying home to avoid checkpoints.

"Sanaa is becoming like a ghost town. There is a street war and people are holed up in their houses," according to a local activist who works with the International Organisation for Migration in Sanaa.

"If the confrontation continues, many families will be cut off" and stranded in their homes, he warned.

Yemen's rebel alliance controlling Sanaa has unravelled in recent days with security forces reporting some 60 combatants killed in clashes between the two sides across the capital, including at the international airport.

On Saturday, Saleh reaching out to a Saudi-led coalition that launched a military intervention against the Huthis in 2015, offering to "turn the page" if the coalition lifts a crippling blockade on the country.

Sanaa airport and rebel-held sea ports have been under a tightened blockade since a missile fired by the Huthis was intercepted near Riyadh last month.

Saleh's sudden about-face sparked warnings of retribution by the Huthis, who accused him of staging a "coup against our alliance".

The coalition carried out dawn air raids against Huthi positions in the hills south of Sanaa on Sunday, but it was not clear if the strikes were meant to benefit Saleh's forces.

A coalition spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Yemen war has claimed more than 8,750 lives since Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the internationally recognised government's fight against the rebels in 2015. The country is now facing what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

 

Saleh says he is ready to talk to Saudi-led coalition if it lifts crippling blockade.

SANAA - The rebel alliance controlling Yemen's capital appeared to be crumbling Saturday as a strongman opposed to the internationally recognised government reached out to the Saudi-led coalition fighting the insurgents.

The rift within rebel ranks has raised fears of a new front in an already devastating three-year war that has claimed thousands of lives and triggered a major humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The overture by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh follows a wave of deadly clashes between his supporters and Iran-backed Huthi rebels that has left dozens dead or wounded in Sanaa.

The former enemies joined ranks in 2014 to seize the capital and drive out Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, whose government has taken refuge in the country's south.

But their fragile alliance has shown signs of unravelling for months and talks between them on Friday failed to broker a truce.

Saleh said Saturday that he was ready to talk to the Saudi-led coalition if it lifts a crippling blockade imposed on the impoverished country last month after a rebel missile was shot down near Riyadh.

"I call on our brothers in neighbouring countries... to stop their aggression and lift the blockade... and we will turn the page," he said in a televised speech.

"We vow to our brothers and neighbours that, after a ceasefire is in place and the blockade is lifted ... we will hold dialogue directly through the legitimate authority represented by our parliament."

- Rebels denounce 'coup' -

The Huthis quickly hit back, accusing Saleh of staging a "coup against our alliance".

His speech had "exposed the deception of those who claim to stand against aggression," a Huthi spokesman said in a statement carried by the rebels' Al Masirah TV.

The Yemen war has claimed more than 8,750 lives since Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the Hadi government's fight against the rebels in 2015, triggering what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Nearly one million people have been infected by cholera in Yemen this year, including more than 2,200 people who have died, according to the World Health Organization.

Saleh loyalists and rebel fighters continued to clash on Saturday afternoon in Sanaa, where violence has left at least 40 fighters dead or wounded since Wednesday according to rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi.

Saleh has accused the Huthis of seeking to monopolise power and the rebels have accused the strongman of treason over his suspected contacts with Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition on Saturday welcomed Saleh's offer of talks, a move the Huthi-run Al Masirah TV said showed the coalition's "faith" that the former president would reverse alliances.

"The decision by (Saleh's) General People's Congress to take the lead and their choice to side with their people will free Yemen of ... militias loyal to Iran," the coalition said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have accused Iran of supplying weapons to the Huthis, which Tehran strongly denies.