Following weeks of tensions and talks of war as the Houthis advanced seemingly endlessly toward the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, officials confirmed Wednesday that a truce has finally been brokered in between tribesmen affiliated to al-Islah party (Sunni radical faction which acts a political umbrella for the Muslim Brotherhood) and the Houthi leadership.
The Houthis, a Shiite group organized under Abdel-Malek al-Houthi’s authority have since late October 2013 fought Salafi and Islahi militants across Yemen highlands region, intent on reclaiming control over what they perceived as being their rightful territorial heritage. Having claimed the Salafis seek only to promote sectarian hatred and radicalism, the Houthis have said to be only interested in protecting their people.
On the ground such narrative has translated into the ouster of all Salafis from Dammaj in northern Sa’ada and the take-over of Amran, a stronghold of al-Ahmar tribe, a tribal faction allied to al-Islah.
When the Houthis broke into Hamdan, a village located only 20 km north of the capital, officials rand the alarm, concerned the Shiite group could be planning indeed to attempt a coup against President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Keen to defuse the situation and re-direct military confrontation toward political negotiations, President Hadi dispatched a special committee to broker and prevent a dangerous military escalation.
“Shiite rebels have begun withdrawing from positions they seized near the Yemeni capital under a truce agreed with armed tribesmen allied with the influential Sunni Al-Islah (reform) party,” officials were quoted as saying this Wednesday.
Although there is still some resistance here and there, officials said they felt they had managed to reel back the Houthis to the negotiation table