Shiite Houti rebels Wednesday took control of a town in central Yemen, expanding their territorial gains in the area.
The rebels have captured the town of Radmaa in the central province of Ibb after fierce clashes against Sunni tribes, a local tribesman said.
“The Houthis are in full control,” Khaled al-Da’am, a local tribal leader, added.
“I asked tribes to withdraw from the battleground. We fought and defended our land until the last bullet available to us. But it was beyond us,” he told dpa.
After Radma’s takeover, the Houthis are expected to shift their sights to the neighbouring town of al-Nadra, being the link to key towns in the central province of al-Baida.
The Houthi movement has expanded into Sunni-dominated central and western Yemen after seizing the capital Sana’a in September.
Central Yemen has seen in recent weeks pitched battles between the Houthis and fighters from the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militant group.
AQAP has increasingly focused its attacks on the Houthis since the fall of Sana’a.
The group sees the Houthis, who seek to revive the Zaidi Shiite traditions of Yemen’s historically dominant northern highlands, as heretics.
Yemen has been gripped by turmoil since 2011 when mass protests erupted against president Ali Abdullah Saleh, eventually forcing him to step down.
GNA
