Al Qaeda militants have killed at least 20 Shia rebels in fresh clashes for control of parts of central Yemen, tribal sources said on Monday.
The rebels, known as Huthis, have been facing fierce resistance from al Qaeda fighters and Sunni tribesmen as they seek to expand their territory after seizing the capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Hudeida.
Fighting erupted overnight Sunday to Monday in the central town of Rada -a mixed Sunni-Shia area- that has been the scene of frequent clashes.
The rebels were killed in a car bombing that targeted a building where they had gathered and in subsequent clashes, tribal and security sources said, adding that 12 rebels were also captured by al Qaeda militants.
The town was rocked by heavy explosions, with rocket-propelled grenades and artillery used by both sides in several hours of clashes, security officials said.
The al Qaeda militants also attacked rebel positions northeast of Rada and along a road connecting the town in Baida province to neighbouring Dhamar, a Shia-populated province taken last week by the rebels.
The Huthis have seized on chronic instability in Yemen since the 2012 ouster of veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh to take control of large parts of the country.
President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi’s weak Sunni-led central government has failed to stop the rebels, despite a UN-brokered peace deal that was supposed to see them withdraw from the capital.
