CLASHES IN YEMEN CLAIMED 35 LIVES IN TWO DAYS

Sana’a, 1 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/22 January 2015 (MINA) – At least 35 people have lost their lives over the past two days of clashes between Shia Ansarullah fighters and Yemeni security forces in the capital, Sana’a.

Medical and security sources provided the figure on Wednesday, adding that nearly 100 people were also injured. Medics had earlier given a toll of 19 killed in the fighting on Monday and Tuesday.

Yemen has been the scene of tensions after the Shia fighters arrested Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s chief of staff, on January 17, Press Tv quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Thursday.

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Mubarak is also the secretary general of the national dialogue committee, which aims to secure a political transition in the country. Ansarullah revolutionaries accuse him of being a foreign agent.

Tensions escalated on January 19, when Ansarullah fighters, also known as Houthis, battled soldiers near the presidential palace and elsewhere across Sana’a, with gunfire and several explosions being heard around the city.

The Shia fighters managed to take control of state media in Sana’a. The Houthis’ al-Maseera satellite television channel said the military opened fire on their patrol in the area of the palace, which led to the outbreak of violence.

According to Saleh al-Jamalani, the commander of the Presidential Protection Force, the Shia fighters made their way into the palace on Tuesday afternoon. Attempts to curb tension

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President Hadi reportedly met with a representative of Ansarullah at the chief executive’s residence in the capital on Wednesday.

A larger meeting, including representatives of political parties, was set to take place later in the day in the presence of UN Special Adviser on Yemen Jamal Benomar.

The Houthis are against a six-region federation plan, saying it would divide the Arabian Peninsula country into rich and poor areas. They have long complained of being marginalized by the central government.

On Tuesday, the leader of Ansarullah revolutionaries censured the government for its failure to implement the terms of a UN-brokered peace agreement reached in September 2014.

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In a televised address, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said the Hadi administration should be held accountable for the escalation of violence in the country. (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)