As fighting between Yemen's warring groups intensified, the recent clashes between Houthi fighters and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) could turn into a wider sectarian conflict, according to analysts.
On Saturday night clashes erupted between Houthi fighters and tribesmen in Arhab, a tribal area located 35km northeast of Sanaa and a bastion of Islah party supporters. Tribal
sources said many Houthi fighters were killed in this confrontation,
but there was no confirmation of the exact number of the dead.
Earlier
this month, AQAP and tribal fighters attacked positions held by the
Houthi rebels in the Yakla mountains in Radaa district of al-Bayda which
left 14 Houthi fighters dead.
On Thursday, hundreds of mourners buried the civilian victims of the latest round of violence in al-Bayda province, when, on December
16, a car bomb exploded near a checkpoint in Radaa manned by Houthi
rebels, killing 16 girls, nine of whom were from al-Bayda. Another car
bomb exploded on the same day, near the house of Abdallah Idriss, a
senior Houthi leader, killing 10 people.
A local government official told Al Jazeera that relatives of victims seek justice and compensation.
"Some
of the critically injured civilians are in need of urgent medical
treatment abroad, but people cannot afford to pay for this," Tareq Abu
Sorema, the director of Radaa's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs,
told Al Jazeera at the funeral site.
Shortly after Houthi rebels took over Sanaa,
and several neighbouring provinces, they quickly advanced into
al-Qaeda-controlled regions in al-Bayda, including Radaa city, where
they engaged in fierce fighting with forces backed by local Sunni
tribes.
Last November, AQAP's military chief, Qassem al-Rimi, warned the
Houthis to brace "for horrors that will make the hair of children turn
white", after the Houthi fighters expanded their presence into AQAP's
stronghold of Radaa.
On
Thursday, al-Bayda residents told Al Jazeera that al-Qaeda fighters and
tribesmen launched an attack that claimed the lives of scores of Houthi
fighters.
"Al-Qaeda killed at least 20 people and injured many others. This is what tribesmen who fight Houthis told us," a resident said.
Houthis,
on their part, declined to comment on the death toll while al-Qaeda
posted details of the attacks on affiliated Twitter accounts.
AQAP sources also said that it gunned down Faisal al-Sharif, a pro-Houthi tribal leader in the Yemeni capital three days ago.
But it is precisely the Houthis' involvement in the "war on terror" which, analysts say, helps AQAP in getting more recruits. "The Houthis' sectarian nature has enabled al-Qaeda to portray its conflict against them as Shia targeting Sunnis," Saeed Obeid, a Yemeni analyst told Al Jazeera.
Obeid
added that if the government remained weak, the current clashes between
al-Qaeda and Houthis could develop into all out sectarian warfare. "The
clashes are a recipe for wider war so long as the government is unable
to execute its duties."
In
October, Houthis announced that they were driving al-Qaeda fighters out
of their strongholds in Manaseh, Qaifah and Khoubza regions in Bayda
province. The Houthis demanded hundreds of displaced families who fled
their homes during the clashes to return home.
However,
despite the Houthis' quick and visible victories, Obeid thinks that
they do not maintain an upper hand in the battles against al-Qaeda.
"Al-Qaeda's
strategy is to engage in a war of attrition with its opponents.
Al-Qaeda is striking all over Houthi-controlled areas. They detonated
bombs and gunned down Houthi-linked figures in Sanaa. They also mounted
deadly attacks on the Houthis in Bayda."
Source: Al Jazeera
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