80 Houthis killed in clashes with al-Qaeda in Yemen

Up to 80 Houthi rebels have been killed so far on Saturday in clashes with armed tribesmen in central Yemen, according to a tribal source who spoke to Anadolu Agency.

“Around 80 armed Houthis were killed early on Saturday morning, while some 20 were captured, in a number of ambushes launched by tribesmen near the ongoing battlefront in Jebel Asbil in Rada’a.”

The source gave no information as to the whereabouts of the captured Houthi rebels.

Rada’a, a western district of the al-Bayda governorate, has been the site of fierce clashes between Houthis on one side and armed fighters from al-Qaeda and local tribes, with 60 people killed over two days of fighting last week.

The rebel group, which calls its movement Ansarullah but whose members mainly come from the northern Houthi tribe, never comments on the numbers of casualties among its forces.

Houthi rebels advanced southwards from their stronghold in the mountainous region of Saada last month and were able to seize control of the capital Sanaa on 21 September after staging weeks of protest and encampments.

Since then, they have continued to expand their territory southwards, taking the major Red Sea port city of Hodeida on 14 October.

However, with their advance into central provinces like Ibb and al-Bayda, they have begun to meet with stiff resistance from al-Qaeda and the local tribesmen fighting alongside them.

Al-Qaeda’s influence in central Yemen has been largely confined to the provinces of Ibb and al-Bayda since a large-scale bombing campaign launched by the government in May 2014 seeking to curtail the group’s power.

Reports of co-operation between Houthi rebels and Yemeni army

The huge escalation in violence on Saturday comes just a day after al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), among the most powerful armed groups operating in the country, announced the formation of a coalition of tribal forces in a central Yemeni province.

The group issued a statement on Friday saying that it had formed a coalition with Sunni tribesmen in Ibb province to combat “the Shi’ite advance” by Houthi rebels, many of whom subscribe to Zaydi Shi’ism, an ancient offshoot of the mainstream sect.

A tribal source told AFP on Saturday that the rebels fighting in Rada had been backed by artillery units from the Yemeni army, suggesting that the Sanaa government could be gearing up to joining forces with Houthi rebels in the fight against AQAP.

This statement could not be independently verified at the time of publication.

The claim comes on the back of reports circulating in Yemeni media, which quote a senior military official as saying that President Mansour Hadi had ordered weapons and military equipment to be sent from army stores in the capital to Houthi rebels clashing with AQAP fighters in Rada.

In a speech televised on the Houthi-run satellite channel al-Masirah on Friday, Houthi leader Abdel Malik al-Houthi said that, if requested, his rebels would offer support to Yemen’s armed forces in the fight against AQAP.

Al-Houthi also warned against the danger posed by AQAP, calling for national unity and an official response to the group.

Drone strike hits AQAP in al-Bayda

A US drone strike has hit alleged AQAP fighters in al-Bayda province, killing 10 people.

The missile, apparently launched by an unmanned US drone, hit two vehicles travelling on a road near to Rada city, site of fierce clashes between Houthi rebels and AQAP on Saturday.

While the strike seems to have targeted AQAP members, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the southern city of Aden said it remains unclear whether the victims of the attack where in fact fighters from the group.

“Some sources are telling us they could be tribesmen.”

The US does not typically comment on its drone attacks in Yemen, which are thought to be launched from a US military base, Camp Lemonnier, situated in Djibouti just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the US may have carried out as many as 26 drone strikes so far in 2014.

The US policy of targeting AQAP with drone strikes is continuing even as group’s fight against Houthi rebels intensifies.

The US has designated both AQAP and the Houthis as “terrorist” organisations, and the UN last week proposed targeted sanctions against three Houthi leaders.