20 killed in clashes in northern Yemen: Sources

Heavy clashes between Houthis and militants from Hashid tribe in northern Yemen have claimed 20 lives, a tribal source says.

“Clashes on Tuesday left 20 people dead from both sides” in the towns of Wadi Khaywan and Usaimat in Amran Province, AFP quoted the unnamed source as saying on Wednesday.

The Houthis say the tribe is helping Salafist groups fighting them in the town of Dammaj in Sa’ada Province.

The Houthis, led by Sheikh Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, control parts of northern Yemen.

They accuse the government of violating their civil rights and marginalizing them politically, economically and religiously.

On January 8, a Yemeni presidential commission brokered a ceasefire between the two sides, but fighting soon resumed and left 22 people dead in two days earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Ahmad Sharafeddin, a leading representative of the Houthi movement in the national reconciliation talks, was killed by unidentified gunmen in the capital Sana’a.