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Clashes Between Yemeni Forces and Houthis Break Out in Capital Gun Battles in Capital Shake Yemen
(about 8 hours later)
SANA, Yemen — Yemen’s leadership was under serious threat on Monday as government troops clashed with Houthi militiamen around the presidential palace and other parts of the capital, the fiercest violence in the capital in months. SANA, Yemen — Troops loyal to Yemen’s president clashed with Houthi militiamen around the presidential palace and other areas for hours on Monday, in some of the worst violence in the capital in months.
Artillery and mortar shells fell on residential neighborhoods as tanks and gunmen roamed streets lined with shuttered shops. Video from a local television station showed destroyed homes and smoke rising from several locations around the palace. At least eight people were killed as artillery and mortar shells fell on residential neighborhoods and tanks and gunmen roamed the streets. By late afternoon, a shaky cease-fire had taken hold, and the president, Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, appeared to have kept his post. But how much power he had retained was unclear.
Attempts at a cease-fire failed to take hold, with unknown gunmen firing on the convoy of Yemen’s prime minister. He was unhurt, officials said. The authority of Mr. Hadi, an ally of the United States and regional Arab monarchies, has eroded since September, when the Houthis, a former rebel group, seized control of much of the capital. On Monday, Houthi militiamen were believed to have taken control of the presidential palace, as well as two powerful security agencies.
President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who is backed by the United States but has been rendered increasingly powerless, was said to remain in the capital, according to Nadia Sakkaf, Yemen’s information minister. As the government has steadily weakened, Yemen, the region’s poorest country, seems more vulnerable than ever. Its economy is in ruins and humanitarian emergencies, including a high rate of child malnutrition, are straining the ability of government workers and international organizations to respond.
Mr. Hadi made no public statements, having possibly lost control of all sympathetic state news media, as events around him appeared to spiral out of control. Sunni extremists belonging to the powerful local Qaeda affiliate appear to be surging in strength. The extremists — who recently claimed responsibility for the attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris — have carried out a string of deadly bombings in Yemen, framing the attacks as retaliation against the Houthis, whom they regard as heretics from Yemen’s minority Zaydi Shiite sect.
The fighting on Monday signaled the latest stage in the escalating tensions between Mr. Hadi and the Houthis, a former rebel group that took control of much of the capital in September. Their power struggle took an ominous turn over the weekend, when Houthi fighters abducted a top aide to Mr. Hadi after a dispute over provisions in Yemen’s draft constitution.
On Monday, military officers accused the Houthis of trying to carry out a coup. A Houthi spokesman, however, claimed that the fighting started early Monday when presidential guard troops attacked and wounded Houthi militiamen.
By the early afternoon, as negotiators tried to halt the violence, there was confusion and suspicion on all sides. After gunmen targeted convoys used by negotiators from both the Houthis and the government, Ms. Sakkaf blamed an unnamed “third party who is benefiting from the chaos.”
Yemeni analysts say that the country’s former strongman, Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled the country for more than three decades, continues to play a forceful, shadowy and often disruptive role in political affairs. Mr. Saleh was widely suspected of aiding the Houthis when they swept into the capital last year, but few expected their purported partnership to last.
Little was clear early Monday afternoon amid renewed concerns for Yemen’s stability. The Houthi expansion, to the provinces beyond Sana, has emboldened the group’s enemies, including the affiliate of Al Qaeda in Yemen, which has stepped up a campaign of violent attacks in recent months, killing dozens of people in bombings.
Leaders of a southern separatist movement, alarmed at the growing chaos in northern Yemen, have also intensified calls for an independent state.Leaders of a southern separatist movement, alarmed at the growing chaos in northern Yemen, have also intensified calls for an independent state.
The United States Embassy in Sana posted a message on Twitter on Monday calling for the “immediate cessation of hostilities.” The chaos has worried the Obama administration. American officials had touted a transitional political process in Yemen as a regional model after the fall of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the longtime strongman.
“Dialogue a must,” the message said. And for years, the United States has relied on Yemen’s government to facilitate the American counterterrorism strategy, including missile strikes by drones on Al Qaeda militants that have been deeply unpopular in Yemen. The Houthis, who have framed their regional outlook as in line with Iran’s, have vowed to challenge American influence.
British officials posted similar sentiments, as the clashes widened, from the streets of the city to the hills surrounding it, the source of much of the morning's artillery shelling. The United States Embassy in Sana posted a message on Twitter on Monday calling for dialogue and the “immediate cessation of hostilities.”
By Monday afternoon, the Houthis claimed to have taken control of strategic military positions on the hills, according to Mohamed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi political bureau. British officials posted similar sentiments, as the clashes widened.
Mr. Bukhaiti denied that his movement was trying to take over the government, saying that the Houthis were retaliating against government forces that began Monday’s fighting. By Monday evening, Houthi fighters were surrounding the prime minister’s residence, according to Nadia Sakkaf, Yemen’s information minister, who provided a Twitter chronicle of the unfolding violence. “Situation could escalate dangerously,” she wrote at about 9 p.m., suggesting the cease-fire was in peril.
“If Hadi was our target, fighting would have been centered around his house,” Mr. Bukhaiti said. The Houthis and government security officials blamed each other for starting the fighting. Houthi leaders said that members of Mr. Hadi’s presidential guard had attacked and wounded two Houthi fighters.
Government military officers accused the Houthis of an attempted coup. Tensions had been building for days; over the weekend, Houthi fighters abducted Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, a top aide to Mr. Hadi, apparently hoping to use him as leverage in troubled negotiations over a draft constitution.
As the fighting intensified on Monday, there was no public statement from Mr. Hadi, who appeared to have lost control of state news outlets, as events around him spiraled out of control.
Ms. Sakkaf, a former journalist, became a primary source for government news and commentary, with her posts on Twitter lurching between optimism and dread.
She reported on cease-fire negotiations as well as an apparent attempts by gunmen to kill the negotiators, including the prime minister.
After the cease-fire took hold, Ms. Sakkaf reported that life around the city was “almost normal,” adding a significant caveat: “except near Pres house & palace.”
The dead included four civilians, three Houthi fighters and two members of the presidential guard, Ms. Sakkaf said, and more than two dozen were wounded by stray bullets.