Sana’a: At least ten people have been killed in Yemen over the past four days in attacks led by an Al Qaida’s affiliate against Al Houthi fighters and the Yemeni army, local officials and the group said.
Yemen has been in limbo since its president and prime minister resigned less than two weeks ago after the Al Houthis seized the presidential palace and confined the head of state to his residence in a struggle to tighten control over Yemen.
The rise of the Al Houthis has antagonised Sunni tribesmen and Al Qaida militants.
On Sunday, Al Houthis said that one of their commanders, Abu Abdullah Al Ayadi, was targeted and killed in Yemen’s central city of Ibb, according the group’s Twitter account.
Local officials in the city confirmed the death of the commander without giving further details.
The militants targeted Yemeni soldiers on Saturday and said it had killed two at a checkpoint in the southern city of Abyan and wounded two others, according to a post on its Twitter account.
Local officials in the region said that clashes between the army and the militants had also led to the death of at least three Al Houthis.
The group also said on Twitter it shot an army officer in the southern province of Lahj on Friday and killed three other Al Houthi fighters in the central province of Al Bayda on Thursday.
Yemen has been in turmoil since 2011, to the dismay of neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Western powers, who want to prevent instability in the Arabian peninsula threatening their oil supplies or giving Al Qaida a base for overseas attacks.
