- SANAA: Rebels denied on Friday Yemeni government accusations that they killed 11 people, including three policemen, in an attack on a convoy carrying food supplies for government forces in the north of the country.
The attack was one of the worst recent breaches of a six-month truce agreed in February by the government and the rebels. The Interior Ministry website said eight of those killed were pro-government tribesmen helping transport supplies to the center of the mountainous Saada province, a stronghold of the rebels who have fought the government in a sporadic war that has displaced 350,000 people since 2004.
The rebels said on their website (almenpar.com) that the accusations "pure slander," arguing that there was no ambush of a convoy but rather a tribal clash between rivals in a neighboring village and the government allied tribesmen.
"The government is exploiting this incident," the spokesman said.
