Houthis, army clash in Yemen’s southern Dhale province

By Ali Aweida

MAARIB, Yemen (AA) - At least 11 members of the Houthi militia, including a senior leader, were killed while fighting pro-government forces in southern Yemen, the army announced on Friday.

“The army repulsed a major attack by the Houthis and their allies in the Maris area of Dhale province,” the Yemeni army’s official website quoted an unnamed source as saying.

“This led to fighting between the two sides that went on from Thursday evening until Friday morning,” the same source added.

Eleven Houthi fighters killed in the clashes, including senior Houthi leader Muwafaq al-Sayyid, he said, without mentioning losses sustained by the army.

The Houthis, for their part, have yet to comment on the army’s assertions.

On Monday, Houthi rebels and allied forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh captured the Al-Rabatayn district of Dhale province after pro-government fighters withdrew from the area.

Impoverished Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when the Houthis and their allies overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s pro-Saudi government.

According to UN officials, more than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed in the conflict to date, while more than 11 percent of the country’s total population have been displaced by the fighting.