Hospitals in northwestern Yemeni cities are overwhelmed today after a weekend of fighting between Yemeni troops and the region’s Shi’ite Houthi rebels erupted into some of the worst violence the nation has seen in years.
Fighting centered on Amran, with 104 people killed there on Saturday and at least 40 more killed in Sunday fighting, with scores wounded on both sides. The fighting began with the collapse of a 12-day ceasefire.
The Houthi rebels have been fighting Yemeni forces off and on for years, complaining about discrimination against them and government backing of Sunni tribes that also live in the area.
It’s one of several nascent civil wars Yemen is dealing with at any given time, in addition to a fight with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) across the south and central regions, and the South Yemen secessionist movement.