SANAA, 6 August 2004 — At least 52 people, including 34 soldiers, were killed when the military launched a fresh offensive after a mediation to end a cleric’s rebellion in northern Yemen broke down, officials said yesterday.
The officials said 18 supporters of the Shiite cleric Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi had been killed since Wednesday after mediators failed to secure the surrender of the religious leader. They said it was difficult to get the exact number of casualties due to the sketchy nature of communications with the mountainous areas in which the clashes took place. Military sources here confirmed the reported clashes and said it was still continuing yesterday. But they would not give a casualty figure for soldiers. Authorities in Sanaa have not yet released any statement about the fate of mediation efforts that were still going on when fighting broke out again on Wednesday in separate areas of the Haidan district of Saada.
Local officials in Saada, however, said that a mediation committee formed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh suspended its work after the clashes resumed. The officials said 11 mediators postponed a visit to the strongholds of Al-Houthi in Haidan.
Medical sources said that more than 20 wounded soldiers had been airlifted to Sanaa for medical treatment. Authorities accuse Al-Houthi of leading an armed rebellion and instigating violence through organizing protests against the United States and Israel.
Two weeks ago, government forces halted attacks on the strongholds of the rebel cleric to allow mediators to convince him to surrender.
