Yemen Observer: http://www.yobserver.com
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Written By: Mohammed al-Kibsi
Article Date: Apr 6, 2008 - 12:59:05 AM
Yahya Joseph Mossa, Rabbi of al-Salem Jews.
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The houses of the al-Salem Jews in al-Hayd village were reported to destroyed by al-Hothi followers on Sunday April 6, said Yahya Joseph Mossa, Rabbi of al-Salem Jews.
An escalation in fighting in the region broke out between the followers of al-Houthi and tribesmen affiliated to Sheikh Shaiya Bakhtan since his recent assassination by al-Hothi followers two months ago.
Three houses in al-Hayd villages belonging to followers of Shaiya Bakhtan were destroyed on Saturday night, while the house of the Rabbi Yahya Joseph was destroyed this morning.
According to Yahya Mossa, who received this information from phone call from Sada during an interview at the Observer on other related articles, his house was hit by three mortar shells and later completely destroyed.
The entire five stories of his house lay in rubble where al-Hothi followers pillaged and looted all his belongings and properties from the wreckage.
Mossa said he and his family fled from their homes when they received threat letter from al-Hothi followers a year and months ago.
He said that they left all their properties and belongings in their houses, as their expulsion left little preparation.
Three other houses belonging to Haron Mossa and Suleiman Mossa, located in al-Hayd village, are also being besieged by al-Hothi followers.
The al-Salem Jews are living in the Tourism City in Sana’a since they had been expelled from their houses in Sada governorate and are being financed by the Yemeni government.
Meanwhile reports from Sada said that more than 15 persons were killed in the war broke out between the al-Hothi rebels and tribesmen of al-Bakhtan .
Fifteen people were killed in Yemen during fierce gun battles between Shia rebels and members of a tribe loyal to the government, witnesses said on Sunday.
Thirteen people were wounded in the fighting between the pro-government Al Bakhtan tribe and the rebels, they said.
The fighting, which broke-out on Saturday in a market in the mountainous Sada province near the border with Saudi Arabia, came two months after Zaidi rebels killed an Al Bakhtan member who they accused of supporting the government.