Sana’a: Yemeni warplanes supported troops battling Al Houthi rebels north of Sana’a on Friday as fighting intensified, with dozens killed in 48 hours, officials and tribal chiefs said.
The violence in Amran province comes despite President Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi warning against a military escalation.
The latest fighting with Al Houthi rebels, also known as Ansarullah, erupted on Sunday, ending an 11-day truce agreed after mediation backed by United Nations envoy Jamal Bin Omar.
Warplanes launched at least eight air raids on Friday to try to break the rebels’ grip on army positions, some of which are just 15km from Sana’a, local government officials and tribal chiefs said.
“The fighting has killed dozens on both sides in the past 48 hours,” a tribal source said, without giving a more precise toll.
The army hammered rebel positions in Hamdan, Bani Matar and Iyal Sreih in Amran province with artillery, local officials said.
And the air force targeted Bani Maymun and Bani Zubayr, while army convoys carrying reinforcements were seen leaving the capital and heading for Amran.
A government official accused the rebels of trying to take the strategic Jebel Al Dhafir mountain at the northwestern exit of Sana’a in a bid to cut the road connecting the capital to the western coastal city of Hodeida.
Officials said the fighting has blocked the road between Sana’a and Amran and expanded to the outskirts of the capital.
Local officials in Amran said army units supporting Islamist tribesmen have cordoned off the city to block Al Houthi advances. Al Houthis, however, already control areas on the outskirts of the northwestern city.
An activist In Amran, Mahmoud Taha, said electricity has been cut off in the city and there has been a severe shortage of fuel and medication, as well as rising food prices, because of the security cordon.
Hadi had warned against further escalations in the province in comments reported by state media.
“It is necessary to take a strong stance against continuing the clashes in Amran province,” he was reported as saying.
He said any escalation was “unacceptable” and said the “Al Houthis should calm the situation and not cross any red lines”.
The Al Houthis are suspected of trying to broaden their sphere of influence as Yemen is reorganised into six regions, pushing out from their mountain strongholds in the far north to areas closer to Sana’a.
They complain that the country would be divided into rich and poor regions under a federalisation plan agreed in February following national talks as part of a political transition.
Al Houthis have been battling the central government for years, complaining of marginalisation under ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 after a year-long uprising.
In February, they seized areas of Amran province in fighting with tribes that killed more than 150 people.
