Yemen’s Houthis storm Sunni party HQ, three killed

Shiite rebels attacked the headquarters of Yemen's Sunni Al-Islah party in the southwestern city of Ibb, triggering violence in which three people died, Agence France-Press quoted security sources saying Saturday.

"Two guards at Al-Islah's office in Ibb were killed and others wounded in an attack launched late at night by the Huthis using automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades," the source told AFP.

Al-Ishlah, which brings together the majority of Yemen’s Sunni tribes, has lost influence with the takeover of the capital by the Houthi rebels.

The attack took place the same day hundreds of intellectuals and activists took to the streets of Sanaa to protest against the Houthi control of the city, demanding President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi put an end to the insurgency.

Protestors chanted slogans against the Houthi rebels and Iran, for allegedly arming the insurgent group, and demanded the president form a military council to safeguard the country from terrorist attacks, Al Arabiya News Channel’s reported.

Protestors also called for early parliamentary and presidential elections.

The demonstrations come a day after Houthi leaders rallied some 30,000 tribal leaders in Sanaa and delivered a communique giving President Hadi 10 days to form a new government, warning him that “all options are open” in case he failed.

The government formation is part of a U.N. deal to reach a peaceful settlement to Yemen’s political crisis.

Over the past three days, security officials said that at least 250 people were killed in clashes between the Houthis and an influential tribe in the town of Radda, an al-Qaeda stronghold south of Sanaa.

The Houthi offensive has pushed Yemen into even deeper turmoil. Apart from the rampant al-Qaeda insurgency and the rebel blitz, the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country has also endured crushing poverty that has bred resentment - and outright rebellion - that took root in a secessionist movement in its once-independent southern region.

[With AP and AFP]