Houthi fighters clash with Salafist Islah party in Yemen

The Yemeni Houthi movement’s Ansarullah fighters have clashed with members of the Salafist Islah party in the capital, Sana’a, Press TV reports.

The battle in the north of Sana’a set Houthi fighters against the guards of Sam Yahya al-Ahmar, the head of Islah party.

Ansarullah fighters said the members of the rival group were driven out one of their checkpoints.

There is no report about any casualties yet.

Al-Ahmar was deputy culture minister before the Yemeni revolution began in 2011 and he is currently served as leader of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform, commonly known as Islah.

The group has lost much of its political and physical power since Ansarullah began gaining ground against al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Over the past months, al-Qaeda militants have frequently carried out attacks on Yemen’s security forces and have also been locked in deadly battles with Shia Ansarullah fighters.

Yemen’s central government has so far failed to confront the terrorist threat. Ansarullah fighters, however, have intervened to fill the vacuum and have driven al-Qaeda militants out of many areas in the country.