Sanaa : At least four gunmen belonging to the Sunni Al Ahmar tribe and one member of the Shia Houthi militia were killed Wednesday in clashes that broke out in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, according to a police source.
The gun battle erupted in the Hasbah district, near the interior ministry, when a group of Al Ahmar tribesmen refused to stop to be inspected as they were passing a checkpoint set by the Houthis in the neighbourhood that the Al Ahmar consider their stronghold.
Three Al Ahmar gunmen and seven Houthis were wounded in the exchange. The home of the Al Ahmar tribal leader, Sam Hamid Al Ahmar, was completely burned down.
Al Ahmar is a Sunni Muslim tribe that opposes the Shia Muslim Houthi movement, which has been in de facto control of the Yemeni capital since last September.
Al Ahmar was one of the most influential tribes in the north and west of Yemen, until the Houthi movement seized control of their main strongholds in Omran province and expelled them from the region earlier this year.