Al-Thawra, a government-run newspaper confirmed in a report published last week that so far, an estimated 120 people (among whom many women and children) have died in Sa’ada as a result of a protracted territorial, political and ideological spat which opposes the Houthis and the Salafis.
The Houthis, a tribal Shiite faction led by Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, rose against Salafi militants late October, in the northern province of Sa’ada, a region which has been so far a Houthi fief, arguing that the Sunni group was amassing weapons and fighters into its religious centre of Dar al-Hadith in Dammaj ahead of a regional take-over.
As tensions grew and anger rose among both factions, politicians were replaced by armed militants and dialogue was silenced by the sounds of gun shots.
After weeks of violence and much bloodshed, no call for truce or invitation to pour-parler was answered, putting a strain on the National Dialogue Conference.
Amin al-Hemyaru, Head of Sana’a official teams of observers in charge of monitoring the conflict told reporters on Sunday that so far “120 Salafi militants” had died, and several dozens wounded.
While officials have said they expect the Houthis to have suffered just as many death and casualties, they noted that to this day, their officials had refused to make any comment on the matter.
In a related incident this Saturday, Yehia Abuesbaa, head of Sa’ada peace committee, told al-Thawra that the Houthis had kidnapped two Yemeni soldiers, whom they accused of delivering weapons and equipment to the Salafis.