Threat of Bloody Sectarian Sunni v. Shi’ite War Growing in Yemen

Reuters

October 18, 2014

Houthis, Islamist Supporters Clash in Central Yemen

SANAA — Yemeni Shi’ite Houthi fighters and supporters of the Sunni Moslem party Islah clashed in central Yemen on Saturday, residents and local officials said, another sign of sectarian warfare in the violence-prone country that borders Saudi Arabia.

Saturday’s fighting in the town of Yareem in Ibb province came after 15 people were killed in fighting on Friday between Sunni tribesmen and Houthi rebels on the outskirts and in the city of Ibb, 150 km (90 miles) south of Sanaa.

Houthi fighters were attacking the home of an Islah official, Ali Bdeir, in Yareem, residents said. The attack came after the Houthis were ambushed at dawn in Yareem, and four Houthis were killed.

"There are heavy clashes now between the Houthi fighters and the supporters of Islah. It’s a very scary situation," a local Ibb official told Reuters.

The Houthis established themselves as powerbrokers in Yemen last month, capturing the capital, Sanaa, on Sept. 21. The weak administration of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi put up little resistance.

Clashes between Houthis, Sunni tribesmen and fighters from al Qaeda, who regard the Houthis as heretics, have since intensified across several provinces in Yemen, alarming neighbouring oil-exporting giant Saudi Arabia.

In Sanaa, dozens of armed Yemeni Shi’ite Houthi demonstrators protested in front of the Saudi embassy on Saturday, calling for the release of a prominent Shi’ite cleric who was sentenced to death by a Saudi court this week, a Reuters witness said.

The Houthi demonstrators, who were carrying AK-47 rifles, also chanted “Death to America, Death to Israel” slogans. Yemeni security and military forces blocked both sides of the street in front of the embassy and watched the demonstration.

A Saudi judge on Wednesday sentenced to death Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who had called for greater rights for the kingdom’s Shi’ites.