Senior officer killed, Al Houthi rebels accused of breaching the cease-fire

By Nasser Arrbyee/16/02/2010

A senior military officer was killed when a group of Al Houthi rebels attacked a checkpoint in Al Jawf province, southeast of Sa'ada, said security sources Tuesday.

Five gunmen of Al Houthi rebels attacked and killed Colonel Ali Darban, 51, while he was performing his duty in the checkpoint between the area of Al Samoom and Al Zaher, in Al Jawf province, the security sources.

The incident comes within the framework of a long-standing feud between two tribes in Al Jawf, one loyal to the government and the other loyal to Al Houthi rebels.

The Yemeni government accused Al Houthi rebels of breaching the cease-fire, which was announced by both sides, on February 12, 2010.

The government said Tuesday, in a statement disseminated by the state-run media, that Al Houthi rebels exploded Monday a courthouse and five other houses and plundered properties belonging to Al Othman tribes in Bakem area far north of Sa'ada.

Independent sources said, before Al Houthi rebels did this, a group of gunmen from Al Othman had killed a number of the rebels in an ambush made in Bakem.

A tribal feud between Al Othman and Al Houthi loyal tribesmen in the district of Bakem erupted even before the war between the rebels and the government troops.

These two incidents, in Al Jawf and Bakem, show how difficult it is for both sides to implement the six conditions of the cease-fire while there are tribal groups who are not, hundred per cent, under their control.

There are tribesmen loyal to Al Houthi rebels and others loyal to the government, but they look only for their own interests.

Meanwhile, the governor of Sa'ada, Taha Hajer, said Tuesday that the displaced people started to return to their villages and houses in Sa'ada where the 6-year old war forced about 250,000 people to leave their houses since 2004.

The governor also said that the government officials, especially the heads of the district, returned to their offices and started working on Monday in four districts out 11 under the control of the rebels: Ketaf, Razeh, Al Hashwah, and Al Safra.