Yemen troops clash with rebels, killing dozens

Yemeni warplanes supported troops battling Huthi rebels north of Sanaa Friday as fighting intensified, with dozens killed in 48 hours, officials and tribal chiefs said.
The violence in Amran province comes despite President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi warning against a military escalation.
The latest fighting with Huthi rebels, also known as Ansarullah, erupted on Sunday, ending an 11-day truce agreed after mediation backed by United Nations envoy Jamal Benomar.
Warplanes launched at least eight air raids on Friday to try to break the rebels' grip on army positions, some of which are just 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Sanaa, local government officials and tribal chiefs said.
"The fighting has killed dozens on both sides in the past 48 hours," a tribal source said, without giving a more precise toll.
The army hammered rebel positions in Hamdan, Bani Matar and Iyal Sreih in Amran province with artillery, local officials said.
And the air force targeted Bani Maymun and Bani Zubayr, while army convoys carrying reinforcements were seen leaving the capital and heading for Amran.
A government official accused the rebels of trying to take the strategic Jabal al-Dhafir mountain at the northwestern exit of Sanaa in a bid to cut the road connecting the capital to the western coastal city of Hodeida.
Hadi had warned against further escalations in the province in comments reported by state media.
"It is necessary to take a strong stance against continuing the clashes in Amran province," he was reported as saying.
He said any escalation was "unacceptable" and said the "Huthis should calm the situation and not cross any red lines".
The Huthis are suspected of trying to broaden their sphere of influence as Yemen is reorganised into six regions, pushing out from their mountain strongholds in the far north to areas closer to Sanaa.
They complain that the country would be divided into rich and poor regions under a federalisation plan agreed in February following national talks as part of a political transition.
Huthis have been battling the central government for years, complaining of marginalisation under ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 after a year-long uprising.
In February, they seized areas of Amran province in fighting with tribes that killed more than 150 people.
Source: AFP