By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
SA’NA, Yemen – Ten Yemeni soldiers have been killed, most of them by snipers, and 18 wounded in a fresh outbreak of fighting with Shiite rebels in north Yemen, a military official said on Monday. The latest clashes come days after the government announced a timetable for a ceasefire, to which the rebels have yet to respond. The fighting took place around the northern city of Sa’ada, in Harf Sufyan, which lies to the south of the city, and in the Malahidh border area, the official told the AFP on condition of anonymity.
The rebels, meanwhile, reported the deaths of two children in what they said was Saudi shelling near the border in northern Yemen. The children, aged five and 10, were killed when one of almost 150 shells fired by the Saudi army towards positions near the border crashed into their farm, the rebels said in a statement on their website.
Yemen’s defence ministry said this week that the government would stop its war with rebel Houthi fighters if they were to begin complying with its six conditions. Ceasefire terms, presented in August, included removing checkpoints, ending banditry, handing over all military equipment and weapons, and releasing civilians and military personnel. But a government official said on Sunday that the ceasefire deal should have included a pledge by the group not to attack neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Government officials have said Houthi leaders twice rejected the terms, while Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis’ leader, said last week that his fighters had twice declared they wanted to end the conflict.
The latest round of clashes erupted on August 11, when government forces launched “Operation Scorched Earth” — an all-out offensive to stamp out the uprising. Saudi Arabia entered the conflict on November 4th , a day after Houthi forces killed a Saudi border guard and occupied two villages within Saudi territory. The rebels accused the kingdom of aiding Yemeni forces, a charge it denied.
The rebels announced their withdrawal from Saudi territory on January 25.
The UN refugee agency says that about 250,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.
For more information, please see:
Al-Jazeera – Yemen’s Houthi Truce Under Scrutiny – 10 February 2010
Tehran Times – Saudi Forces Raid Yemen’s Northern Villages – 10 February 10
AFP – Ten Soldiers Killed in North Yemen Clashes – 9 February 2010
CNN – Fighting Erupts in Yemen During Peace Talks, Journalist Says – 6 February 2010
