Major party leader shot dead in southwestern Yemen

SANAA, Yemen (AA) – A leader of Al-Islah, Yemen’s largest Islamic party, was shot dead Saturday in the southwestern city of Taiz, according to a local source.

Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on Dhia al-Haq al-Ahdal as he left his home in the city, the source said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to brief the media.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.

Al-Ahdal, a prominent party leader in Taiz, played a major role in forming local vigilante groups to fight Houthi rebels.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

A Saudi-led coalition aimed at reinstating the Yemeni government exacerbated the situation, causing one of the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crises, with 233,000 people killed, nearly 80% or about 30 million needing humanitarian assistance and protection, and more than 13 million in danger of starvation, according to UN estimates.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara