Houthis seize control of Yemen's Radmah after clashes

SANAA

Shiite Houthi militants managed on Wednesday to seize control of the central Yemeni city of Radmah following fierce clashes with local armed tribesmen, a tribal source has said.

"The Houthi militants are now controlling the city after 24 hours of clashes with tribesmen," the source, who asked not to be named, told Anadolu Agency.

Houthi gunmen are now heavily deployed in the city's streets, the source added without giving further details.

Earlier in the day, a security source told AA that at least 17 people had been killed in overnight clashes between Houthi militants and armed tribesmen in the flashpoint city, located around 33km south of Sanaa.

According to the source, ten militant tribesmen and seven Houthis were killed in the violence.

Local residents said that fierce clashes had erupted Tuesday between Shiite Houthi militants and armed tribesmen in the city after Yemeni troops surrendered their positions to Houthi militants without resistance.

Yemen's Houthis storm university in Sanaa

Shiite Houthi militants stormed a government university in Yemeni capital Sanaa on Wednesday, a university source has said.

"Houthi militants in two vehicles forced their way into Dhamar University in southern Sanaa," the source told Anadolu Agency.

According to the source, the militants cited "university corruption" as their reason for staging the attack.

Houthi leaders could not be reached for comment.

The Houthis have controlled capital Sanaa since September 21, when they signed an agreement with Yemen's presidency aimed at ending the country's ongoing political stalemate.

Since then, the Houthis have sought to extend their control to other parts of the country.

Yemen has been dogged by political turmoil since a popular uprising that erupted in 2011 toppled longstanding president Ali Abdullah Saleh one year later.

Some Arab capitals accuse Shiite Iran of backing Yemen's ongoing Houthi insurgency.

www.aa.com.tr/en