Northern Yemen Truce Strained as Fighting Kills 69
Yemeni MPs Press Govt to Crush Shi'ite Rebels
The truce between the Yemeni government and the northern Houthi rebels appears to be on the verge of collapse tonight, after reports of growing clashes over the last five days have left at least 69 people dead across the region.
Yemen’s Army declined taking direct part in the fighting, but insisted that they were called in to break up fighting between Houthis and a militia loyal to ruling party MP Sheikh Sagheer Aziz. The Houthis, for their part, say they clashed with the army as well.
The ceasefire with the Shi’ite Houthis was announced in February, following months of clashes which had the group capturing a number of Saudi soldiers and attacking several Saudi border towns. It was just one of several major conflicts the Yemeni government had been dealing with, including a growing secessionist movement in the south and the rise of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) movement.
The ceasefire had been useful in allowing the Yemeni government to work on crushing the other rebel movements, but a growing number of MPs are calling for a resumption of the war in the north. At least 62 MPs are said to have signed a petition calling for a new offensive to help Aziz assume control over the region.
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Walldizo
July 28th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
The Yemeni government has persistently contiued its failing policies aiming at cotrolling all fronts at the samen time.With an army trained to protect the king of kings not defending the country from forein enemies,any insurgents minimum military gears could easly defeat this army of monkies.This exactly how the Houthies are rounding up the so called Yemeni army, thanks to Ali Saleh.Its becoming apparant that without real conciliation with the opposition, Yemen will be the second victim after Somalia. The US and those interested in keeping Yemen from skidding into disaster,adequate pressure must be applied against Saleh to honor his agreement with the opposition parties signed last week.Its only with this agreement that can Saleh save the country from a complete disaster.