SANAA
Militants affiliated with the Shiite Houthi movement on Monday kidnapped 30 members of northern Yemen's Sanaa Arhab tribe, tribal sources have said.
The source had said earlier that only 22 members of the tribe had been kidnapped.
Kidnapped persons included children, the sources said, adding that the captives had been taken to an unknown location.
The Anadolu Agency could not obtain immediate comment from the Houthi leadership regarding the tribesmen's claims.
Two Arhab tribesmen, meanwhile, were seriously injured when Houthi militants opened fire on them, according to tribal sources who alleged that the two men had been targeted for no apparent reason.
Monday's kidnapping of the 30 Arhab tribesmen came one day after two Houthi militants were killed in the same district by a roadside bomb, a tribal source had told AA earlier.
The Houthis have staged an aggressive campaign in the Arhab district in recent weeks on the pretext of fighting Al-Qaeda.
Last month, the Arhab tribe withdrew its fighters from flashpoint areas in the district to avoid possible clashes with Houthi militants.
The Houthis have emerged as an important political and military force in Yemen since taking control of capital Sanaa in late September and extending their influence farther afield.
The rise of the Houthis has pitted the Shiite movement against local Sunni tribes and Al-Qaeda, which is also said to remain influential in Yemen.
Yemen has remained in turmoil since the ouster of long-serving President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012.
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