SAADA, 1 July 2004 — Ten more supporters of a besieged anti-US preacher were killed yesterday as the army stepped up its offensive against the insurgents in Yemen’s mountainous northern region, local authorities said.
Clashes since June 19 in the area, which lies within Saada province near the border with Saudi Arabia, have left at least 78 dead, including 12 soldiers. “Ten supporters of Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi were killed in a morning bombardment against the (insurgents’) hideouts” in Saada, a local official said.
“The army concentrated its bombings on the fortifications and trenches” used by the hundreds of Al-Houthi’s supporters in their stronghold in the rugged Maran region, the official added.
At the same time, he said, “units of foot soldiers are moving toward the supporters” of the cleric, who is from the Zaidi community, a moderate Shiite sect dominant in northwest Yemen.
Mediation attempts led by MPs, including Al-Houthi’s brother Yahia, to end the clashes were called off as the preacher allegedly refused to negotiate. The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Yemeni troops killed the militants’ deputy commander, naming him as Zaid ibn Ali Moslah Al-Houthi, a brother of Hussein Al-Houthi.
Residents of the area said yesterday dozens of families had fled the region since the army intensified its bombing campaign, and that numerous wounded soldiers were evacuated from the combat zone. More than 60 of Al-Houthi’s supporters have been captured since the fighting broke out.
Yemeni authorities accuse Al-Houthi of stirring trouble by organizing anti-US demonstrations after Friday prayers.
But one of the MPs involved in the abortive mediation effort accused elements of the army of undermining efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.
