Humanitarian crisis looms if rebel group not stopped

Yemeni officials and activists have warned of a humanitarian crisis in northern Yemen should clashes continue between government forces and supporters of Hussein Badr Eddin al-Houthi, a radical Shi’ite religious leader who was killed in September 2004.

On Monday, Yemeni government officials said that at least 42 Yemeni soldiers had been killed and 81 wounded in just over a week of clashes with al-Houthi supporters in the northern governorate of Saada.

Khalid al-Anesi, Executive Director of the National Organisation for Defending Freedoms and Rights, an NGO, told IRIN that the clashes in Saada will have negative consequences at the national level.

“Several houses have already been destroyed [in Saada], students no longer go to school, agricultural farms have been damaged and work has come to a standstill," he said.

This rebellious group seeks to bring the country to a situation similar to that of Iraq.

Al-Anesi added that security in Saada province was deteriorating quickly and it would be difficult to provide humanitarian assistance because of increasing instability.

The rights activist blamed the government for the situation as it did not take legal action against the perpetrators of violence when the clashes between al-Houthi supporters and government forces first erupted in 2004.

“The state had to resort to using power even it had no legal justification," he said, adding that “only citizens will pay the cost of this instable situation”.

Al-Anesi further said that such clashes with al-Houthi supporters would only lead to revenge attacks and more violence.

Tribal revenge

“Several families have lost their sons in this war, even if they are not directly involved in the clashes. This will lead to revenge, especially as Yemen is very much a tribal society with its own rules of tribal revenge,” he added.

Khalid al-Sufiani, a specialist on Yemen’s history, said the current clashes will lead to instability in other governorates. Supporters of al-Houthi will take revenge against the government in other governorates, and so violence will increase, he said.

Al-Sufiani said this was not the first rebellion to take place in Saada.

“The governorate of Saada has witnessed several rebellions over the centuries - even before the revolution of 26 September 1962 [which overthrew the royalist regime that was supported by al-Houthi],” he said.

Government reports say that over the years, clashes between al-Houthi supporters and government troops have claimed the lives of 727 government forces and wounded 5,296.

The clashes between the two sides were re-ignited in late January after al-Houthi supporters threatened to kill members of a small Jewish community in Saada if they did not leave the country within 10 days.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has asked the rebels to surrender their weapons.

Tareq al-Shami, head of the information office at the General Peoples’ Congress, Yemen’s ruling party, said if the Shi’ite rebels did not surrender their arms and stop attacking government troops, the government would do everything in its means to end the violence and ensure stability in the area.

“This rebellious group seeks to bring the country to a situation similar to that of Iraq,” he said.

maj/ar/ed

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