17 PEOPLE KILLED IN ARMED CLASHES IN YEMEN

Yemeni fighters of the Houthi movement shout slogans during a rally against US and Saudi intervention in Yemen on March 6, 2015 in the capital Sana'a. (©AFP) — **Yemeni fighters of the Houthi movement shout slogans during a rally against US and Saudi intervention in Yemen on March 6, 2015 in the capital Sana’a**. (Photo: Press TV/AFP)

Sana’a, 18 Jumadil Awwal 1436/9 March 2015 (MINA) – At least 17 people have been killed in heavy clashes between armed groups in Yemen’s central province of Bayda.

Twelve people were killed when armed battles broke out on Sunday after al-Qaeda Takfiri militants attacked three positions held by the dominant Houthi fighters, according to unidentified security and local officials cited in an AP report.

In a separate development, five more people were killed in clashes between two rival tribes.

The Houthi Ansarullah movement dissolved the parliament last month and announced a constitutional declaration on the Transitional National Council, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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The constitutional declaration said the council will be set up to elect the presidential council in a bid to end the country’s persisting political deadlock.

This is while Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who resigned last month along with his cabinet, fled his home in the capital Sana’a on February 21 while under effective house arrest, and went to Aden, Yemen’s second largest city, where he officially withdrew his resignation and claimed intentions to resume his duties.

The US-backed president also called on the Ansarullah revolutionaries to relinquish power and leave Sana’a.

Houthis, however, insisted that Hadi had lost his legitimacy as head of state and was being sought as a fugitive from justice.

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The Houthi movement was instrumental in the 2011 popular uprising that forced dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to quit after 33 years in power.

The Ansarullah revolutionaries say the Yemeni government has been incapable of properly running the affairs of the country and providing security. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)