SANA’A: Sunni Al Qaeda militants and Shia rebels have fought a bloody battle in central Yemen, tribal sources said yesterday, amid fears of worsening sectarian tension in the impoverished Arabian country.
Thirty Shia rebels and 18 Sunni fighters and their tribal allies were killed in the clashes, the tribal sources told Reuters.
Al Qaeda in Yemen’s Twitter page said it fought the rebels with light weapons and demolished their homes in the city of Radda in Al Bayda province over the course of several hours on Tuesday — an account confirmed by local tribesmen. The statement did not mention any casualties on its side, which the tribal sources put at 18 among the militants and tribal gunmen fighting along with the group.
In a separate incident, Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for an attack on an army checkpoint elsewhere in Al Bayda province which killed 5 soldiers, the fighters and security sources said.
Radda has long been a stronghold of Al Qaeda which includes many fighters from local tribes who are up in arms over the new presence of the Houthi rebels in the mainly Sunni-populated region. The Houthis established themselves as power brokers in Yemen last month by capturing Sana’a against scant resistance from the weak administration of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
Houthi forces have since advanced into central Yemen and taken on Sunni tribesmen and Al Qaeda militants, who regard the Houthis as heretics.
Reuters
