seruriermarshal
06-29-2004, 07:46 PM
Yemen says militant number two killed as clashes rage on in far north
SAADA, Yemen (AFP) Jun 29, 2004
Yemeni troops Tuesday killed the deputy commander of Islamic militants holed up in a mountain redoubt near this northern town, the defence ministry said, as three soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in continued clashes.
The ministry's website named the dead man as Zaid bin Ali Moslah al-Huti, brother of the self-styled "Emir al-Mumineen", or Prince of Believers, Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huti, whose followers have been engaged in bloody clashes with the army since June 18.
"The armed forces also succeeded in inflicting more losses in the ranks of (his) followers," the ministry said.
"Several of Huti's followers have been arrested and large quantities of arms, ammunition and cars seized, along with documents of a subversive nature which were clearly calculated to fan sectarian strife".
Huthi is a preacher from the Zaidi community, a moderate Shiite sect dominant in northwestern Yemen but in the minority in the mainly Sunni country.
Hundreds of heavily armed supporters have been holed up with him in the Maran district of Saada province, near the border with Saudi Arabia.
"Three members of the military police were killed and 13 others wounded Monday evening in and around Saada," a local official told AFP earlier.
The fighting continued Tuesday in several areas around Huthi's stronghold, where "a senior officer was seriously wounded," according to a tribal official.
"The officer was hit with eight bullets in the Hidan region," to the east of Maran, added the tribal official.
The army, backed up by security forces, was deployed on Monday evening after the government called off a mediation effort led by MPs, including a brother of the besieged preacher.
"Military operations will continue until we take the last hideout of Hussein al-Huthi and his supporters and put an end to the rebellion," an army officer told AFP.
The fighting has left scores dead and more than 60 militants captured, including another brother of Huthi, Abdul Aziz.
Yemeni authorities accuse Huthi of stirring trouble by organising anti-US demonstrations after the main weekly Muslim prayers.
But one of the MPs involved in the abortive mediation effort accused elements of the army of undermining efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Yemen has launched a major crackdown against Al-Qaeda sympathisers among the country's Sunni majority, but the Zaidi minority had been relatively calm.
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From (http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040629185227.kw5p69yp.html)
SAADA, Yemen (AFP) Jun 29, 2004
Yemeni troops Tuesday killed the deputy commander of Islamic militants holed up in a mountain redoubt near this northern town, the defence ministry said, as three soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in continued clashes.
The ministry's website named the dead man as Zaid bin Ali Moslah al-Huti, brother of the self-styled "Emir al-Mumineen", or Prince of Believers, Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huti, whose followers have been engaged in bloody clashes with the army since June 18.
"The armed forces also succeeded in inflicting more losses in the ranks of (his) followers," the ministry said.
"Several of Huti's followers have been arrested and large quantities of arms, ammunition and cars seized, along with documents of a subversive nature which were clearly calculated to fan sectarian strife".
Huthi is a preacher from the Zaidi community, a moderate Shiite sect dominant in northwestern Yemen but in the minority in the mainly Sunni country.
Hundreds of heavily armed supporters have been holed up with him in the Maran district of Saada province, near the border with Saudi Arabia.
"Three members of the military police were killed and 13 others wounded Monday evening in and around Saada," a local official told AFP earlier.
The fighting continued Tuesday in several areas around Huthi's stronghold, where "a senior officer was seriously wounded," according to a tribal official.
"The officer was hit with eight bullets in the Hidan region," to the east of Maran, added the tribal official.
The army, backed up by security forces, was deployed on Monday evening after the government called off a mediation effort led by MPs, including a brother of the besieged preacher.
"Military operations will continue until we take the last hideout of Hussein al-Huthi and his supporters and put an end to the rebellion," an army officer told AFP.
The fighting has left scores dead and more than 60 militants captured, including another brother of Huthi, Abdul Aziz.
Yemeni authorities accuse Huthi of stirring trouble by organising anti-US demonstrations after the main weekly Muslim prayers.
But one of the MPs involved in the abortive mediation effort accused elements of the army of undermining efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Yemen has launched a major crackdown against Al-Qaeda sympathisers among the country's Sunni majority, but the Zaidi minority had been relatively calm.
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From (http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040629185227.kw5p69yp.html)