Rebel infighting rocks Yemeni capital
Explosions, gunfire heard across Sanaa
Houthi rebels set checkpoints on the way to airport as fighting between Houthi rebels and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh continue in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on December 2, 2017.
( Mohammed Hamoud - Anadolu Agency )
By Murad al-Arifi and Ali Oweida
SANAA, Yemen
Fighting between Houthi rebels and loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh broke out in the Yemeni capital Sanaa early Saturday.
The violence erupted after Houthi rebels attempted to arrest Brigadier Tarek Saleh, a nephew of the former president, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter.
Explosions and gunfire could be heard across Sanaa.
No reports are yet available about casualties.
Saleh loyalists are reported to have captured several areas in eastern Sanaa and military checkpoints along the road between Sanaa and Dhamar province.
Forces loyal to the former president reportedly overran a military camp in southern Sanaa, according to Saleh’s General People’s Congress.
A source in Saleh’s forces said hundreds of tribesmen were ordered to move to Sanaa to back up loyalists of the former president against Houthi rebels.
According to Almotamar.net, a Yemeni news website run by Saleh's General People’s Congress, the forces loyal to Saleh detained hundreds of Houthis in the capital.
The Houthi rebels were involved in various acts involving disruption of public order, the website said.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi called on Saleh to stop what he described as "irresponsible recklessness".
In a televised speech, Houthi urged Saleh to be "rational" and "interact positively with efforts aimed at stopping sedition".
"I warn against going down this destructive path and I call on the state to shoulder its responsibilities to impose security and stability," he said.
Saleh called on his loyalists "to return to their barracks", in an implicit hint of possible confrontations with Houthi rebels, according to pro-Saleh media.
Later on Saturday, Houthi-linked news agency SABA reported that Houthi rebels captured some military posts belonging to Saleh loyalists in capital Sanaa and the surrounding area.
However, a military official from Saleh forces denied the news.
The fresh violence came after the two allies failed to broker a truce to halt three days of infighting in the Yemeni capital.
Houthis and Saleh loyalists jointly overran Sanaa and much of the country in 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee to Saudi Arabia.
In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign to reverse Houthi military gains and shore up the Yemeni government.
The conflict has since claimed more than 10,000 lives and triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Reporting by Murad al-Arifi; Writing by Cansu Dikme and Fatih Hafiz Mehmet
