11 days worth of truce with northern Yemen’s secessionist Houthi rebels came to an end late on Sunday, leading to protracted fighting that extended into Monday, and left at least 33 killed.
Tribal sources reported 23 of the rebels were killed in the fighting. Yemen hasn’t officially put a number on its own military’s toll, but various sources reported at least 10 killed, and others wounded.
The Houthi rebels are part of Yemen’s Shi’ite minority, and claim their region, the only one in the country where the majority is Shi’ite, faces intense discrimination. They’ve been fighting the Yemeni government off and on since the 1990s. Yemen’s government has been backed by Saudi Arabia in the fight.
Though the fighting seems to more or less stalemate when the Houthis try to move beyond their northern homeland, Yemeni ruler Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi seems increasingly edgy about his future prospects, and has also ordered artillery forces away from the capital city, with officials claiming this was related to a feared coup plot by the military.