SANAA, 7 May 2005 — Yemeni forces have arrested more than 10 members of the outlawed “Believing Youth” group whose members fought fierce battles with army troops in northern Yemen last month.
Security forces launched a manhunt in Abss district of the northwestern province of Hajja Wednesday for followers of the group’s slain leader Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi.
Tribal sources in Hajjah said police forces clashed with Al-Houthi’s supporters in Abss, but there were no reports on casualties.
Aadil Al-Jubairi, the mayor of Abss, said security forces arrested several members of the group, including a man called Muhammad Ismael Al-Haimi, the bodyguard of Al-Houthi’s father, Badruddin Al-Houthi.
Another suspect identified as Abdullah Al-Rawhani blew himself up with an explosive device as policemen pursued him, Al-Jubairi said. He said police have seized firearms, hand grenades and explosives in possession of the arrested men.
Police in Sanaa arrested in the last two days 11 suspected members of the “Believing Youth” for allegedly taking part in grenade attacks against military vehicles in Sanaa last month, a security source said.
The source said in remarks published by a Defense Ministry website that the 10 men and a woman “formed a gang to carry out sabotage acts, and grenade attacks against cars of the ministry’s employees.
The suspects were apprehended after police raided an apartment in Sanaa, said the source, adding that a “large number of grenades, firearms and leaflets inciting violence and acts hostile to the regime, were confiscated from the apartment.
Authorities announced in mid-April that the army has ended an offensive against the followers of Al-Houthi after capturing their strongholds in Saada.
