Houthis, military battle near Yemen\\\'s presidential palace, two killed
Tuesday, 20 January 2015
SANAA, Jan 19 (AFP): Clashes between the army and Shiite militia in the Yemeni capital have killed at least two people and wounded 14 others, a medical source said.
The source at the Quds Military Hospital said the 14 wounded and the bodies of the two dead had been brought to the facility close to the presidential palace in southern Sanaa, where the clashes erupted on Monday.
Shiite militia clashed with Yemen's army and fired on a convoy carrying the prime minister on Monday as pressure mounted on the embattled government of President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.
The militiamen, known as Huthis, opened fire on the convoy carrying Prime Minister Khalid Bahah in the capital Sanaa but he escaped unharmed, Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf said.
The alleged attack came after fierce clashes broke out near the presidential palace early Monday and following a meeting with Hadi at his residence in western Sanaa.
The US-backed leader's chief of staff was abducted on Saturday as the Huthis press for concessions in the writing of a new constitution.
The president's office issued a statement calling for an "immediate ceasefire" but fighting continued.
Yemen has been wracked by unrest since the Huthis seized control of Sanaa in September, raising fears the strategically important country bordering Saudi Arabia could collapse into a failed state.
Shelling and gunfire could be heard as smoke rose over parts of the city, and residents fled many neighbourhoods.
Witnesses said the fighting erupted early Monday after the militia deployed reinforcements near the presidential palace.
The military presidential guard sent troops onto the streets surrounding the palace and outside Hadi's residence.
A security official said the army intervened when the Huthis began to set up a new checkpoint near the presidential palace.
But a prominent Huthi chief, Ali al-Imad, accused the presidential guard of provoking the clashes, in a statement on his Facebook page.
"Hadi's guard is trying to blow up the situation on the security front to create confusion on the political front," he said.