Sa’ada war escalates, more victims among tribal volunteers [Archives:2007/1039/Front Page]

Mohammed bin Sallam
SA'ADA, April 4 – Sa'ada city witnessed severe encounters between Houthi loyalists and Yemeni government forces, as Houthis waged their fieriest attack since the war's beginning on Al-Senarah and Al-Abalah camps overlooking Sa'ada in the south, according to residents from the city.

Similarly, tribal sources said confrontations are escalating on various fronts in Sa'ada. Further, Al-Mazru'a, Al-Saifi and Al-Khafgi areas surrounding Sa'ada city witnessed fierce fighting, while confrontations continue in Al-Safara'a district's Bani Muath and numerous areas in Sahar, Baqem and Haydan districts.

Dozens of army and tribal volunteers were killed and injured, with same occurring in Dhahian, where a military unit evacuated after being subjected to Houthi counterattacks and sniper fire.

Other violent clashes occurred east of Sa'ada involving hundreds of volunteers led by elderly Sheikh Abdullah Dares and Houthi followers. A source revealed that clashes erupted when Sheikh Dares and his supporters began attacking Wadi Al-Ghail, an area near Kahlan. The clashes left dozens dead or injured.

Houthi “sleeper cells” activated, Houthis rearmed

Media sources report that Houthis have begun appearing in large numbers and in numerous areas of Sa'ada, especially those areas and mountains occupied by the Yemeni army. This doesn't mean such supporters are moving between areas; rather, they are those living in such areas as sleeper cells and now activated.

Sources add that the period between the end of the second Sa'ada war on April 12, 2005 and the last war enabled Houthis to reform and restructure themselves in a different manner than they showed in the first and second Sa'ada wars. With the help of others, they drew up new war plans and got accustomed to new weaponry.

Moreover, they bought weapons and stored them in various places throughout Sa'ada and some areas outside the governorate with those individuals now assuming responsibility to lead the party and others who haven't appeared yet.

Yemeni military leaders recently have been surprised at the weapons Houthis are using and inquired about the source of such weaponry because they know very well the nature of weapons available in the Sa'ada arms market in Al-Talh, which are no more than light or medium-sized arms. The question now is from where did Houthis receive such modern arms and large amounts of money to pay for such arms and still have some to spend on themselves?

Hospitals full, detainees released

In related news, on Wednesday, Al-Ayyam reported a medical source as saying, “The hospital has become full of injured volunteers and no longer is able to contain any more. The numbers already admitted to the hospital exceed its capacity.”

Additionally, Dhamar's Political Security Department released 27 Islamic teaching students and political activists belonging to Al-Haq, the Public Forces Union and the Yemeni Socialist Party, who previously were arrested and jailed at the Central Prison for alleged links to Houthism and Houthi thought.

A source at the Joint Meeting Parties assured that the release is a good step on the part of the Yemeni government, as it will help confine the sedition, and further requested freeing others. Another source at the Yemeni Socialist Party last week demanded authorities release the party's affiliates, declaring that pursuing and arresting its members doesn't fit with calls for national dialogue.

“More than 30 individuals remain jailed at Dhamar's Central Prison. They were detained in a campaign targeting hundreds of citizens across the republic since the renewal of war between the Yemeni army and Houthis,” Aleshteraki.net reported.

The web site indicated that more than 1,000 detainees are estimated across Yemen, most of whom are in Hodeidah, Dhamar, Hajjah, Sana'a and Amran prisons and, to a lesser degree, in Ibb, Mahwit, Taiz and Al-Dhale' prisons.

It added that Yemeni authorities have transferred more than 200 warriors to Hodeidah, located some 245 km. west of Sana'a, in order to ensure their isolation, remove them from demands for visits and escape the chaos usually occurring in war prisoner detentions.

“Among the war prisoners are several who were injured while participating in the war against the Yemeni army, but Hodeidah security apparatuses refuse to admit them to hospitals,” the site reported, adding that such war prisoners live in poor conditions during their detention, while authorities serve them bad food.

“Warriors from both sides have been arrested and some information mentions limited prisoner exchanges coordinated by the International Red Cross, whose supervisor has been in Sana'a since the war's beginning at the start of 2007,” the web site noted.

Yemeni expats denounce war

Yemeni emigrants living in the U.S. and Canada have denounced the ongoing war in Sa'ada and called for Yemenis to reject it. They add, “What we hear in the media and from those coming from Yemen hints that the country is on a path full of landmines, tragedy, poverty and disease. It's a dark tunnel leading to nothing but catastrophe.”

In a letter published by Aleshteraki.net, they expressed sadness and sorrow over Yemen's catastrophic situation, attributing it to the ruling regime's policies, described as a dictatorship.

They further criticized a fatwa issued by scholars to legalize the Sa'ada war, maintaining that they issued such a fatwa to kill Yemenis, just like they did in the past regarding highland issues and those of the south. “Now, they are legalizing the Sa'ada war because they don't care about Yemeni blood,” adding that such a fatwa will deepen existing social divides.

Sheikhs warn of tribal warfare

Sheikhs from Sa'ada governorate's Waelah, Hamdan and Khawlan bin Amr tribes are warning about the risks of inserting the Hashed tribe into the war between Yemeni armed forces and Houthi loyalists.

“Inserting the Hashed tribe against Sa'ada sons and violating the homes and prosperity by tribes from outside the governorate will compel us to seek help from the Bakil tribe, which will expand the range of the war and make it a tribal war, wherein every tribe will attack the other. This is what we reject,” the sheikhs stated.

They further urged Hashed tribal sons not to respond to calls aimed at inserting them into a war of revenge, which could expand even after the end of the Sa'ada war and create more divisions among the tribes, especially the Hashed and Bakil, Yemen's two largest tribes.
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