Yemen denies Saudi attack on rebels

On Tuesday the Yemen Defense Ministry denied allegations made by the Houthi rebels that Saudi Arabian artillery pounded a border area under their control.

 
“Such allegations only show that the rebels can tell that their defeat is at hand and they want to justify that defeat by making claims of Saudi interference,” stated the Ministry.

 
Al-Houthi rebels said Monday that Saudi Arabian artillery pounded the market of al-Husama, where many people were shopping, in the western extents of the Sa’adah province.

 
At least two Saudi border guards were injured in clashes with the Houthi rebels in the Husama area after the accusations, press reports said. 

 
Elsewhere in the conflict, al-Malahaid, on the western front, is currently witnessing the fiercest battles between the government troops and the rebels, who are launching suicide attacks in the densely populated Razeh district.

 
Most of the tribesmen of Razeh (a mountainous area overlooking the rebels’ main strongholds) are cooperating with the government troops in laying siege to the rebels.

 
At least 14 of the rebels were killed, and 12 others were arrested on Monday when they attempted to take over locations in Jabal Haram and Wadi Maeen in Razeh, local sources said.  The sources also reported that three soldiers were killed in the clashes.

 
In addition, the sources stated that the army is now calling to the rebels on loudspeakers to surrender and save their lives.

 
The soldiers were asking the rebels through the loudspeakers to come and bury the dead bodies of their fighters and surrender themselves, the sources from Razeh added.

 
Meanwhile, according to local tribal sources, four tribesmen who were calling for support for the Houthi rebels were killed in Barat, in the Jawaf province, east of Sa’adah, in clashes with other tribesmen who are loyal to the government. One loyalist tribesman was killed in the skirmish.

 
The conflict occurred when tribesmen from Jiham asked other tribesmen from al-Hamaid to either stop supporting the Houthi rebels or get out of the area.

 
“No one here in al-Jawf supports the Houthi rebels when it comes to religious beliefs, but some support the armed rebellion because of the problems between the tribesmen  themselves, and because of the problems between them and the government due to a lack of development in their area,” commented Yahya al-Kuh, a member of the local council in al-Jawf.

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