SANAA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- At least seven Yemeni soldiers and two
Shi'ite rebels were killed in clashes on Thursday in the northern restive province of
Amran, a provincial security official said.
"Lieutenant Colonel Nashwan al-Kiliby, head of the 4th battalion of the 103 infantry brigade, and six of his bodyguards were killed in clashes after they refused to hand over their military vehicle and personal firearms to the rebels," the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
While, the Defense Ministry accused the rebel group of launching aggression against the army personnel.
The gunfight took place in Amran's district of
Harf Sufyan at a checkpoint manned by the rebels, known also as
Houthis after the name of their leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, said the official.
Abdulmalik al-Houthi said two of his fighters were killed and five others wounded in the shootout which is "unjustified brutal aggression on his followers."
"We advise the members of the armed forces to reject any orders to carry out such hostile act of aggression against the people," said al-Houthi in a statement released by his media office.
Amran province, about 50 km north of the capital Sanaa, has recently witnessed a deadly sectarian fighting between the Houthi- led Shi'ite rebels and Sunni fundamentalists over the few past months.
On Aug. 26, 2010, the Yemeni government and the Shi'ite group signed an agreement in Qatar to cement a fragile cease-fire to end an on-and-off war since 2004, but the rebels' clashes with local tribesmen are still rocking the region.
Beside Amran, Houthis also have been engaging in severe sectarian conflicts for several months with Sunni groups in Saada and neighboring provinces of Hajja and al-Jouf that left hundreds of people killed and forced thousands of residents to flee their villages.
Exploiting one-year-old protests against former President
Ali Abdullah Saleh, the rebels have been trying to expand their control over the country's northern provinces, according to government officials.
Last month, the Houthis publicly denounced the legitimacy of a political-settlement deal that swore in the country's consensus President
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and ended almost a year of protests against Saleh.
Hadi promised to launch a national dialogue involving Houthi group and other small opposing factions to settle the political crisis that had almost dragged the impoverished Arab country to the edge of civil war.
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