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Three Dead as Yemen Rebels Bomb Tribal Chief Home | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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SANAA (AFP) – Yemeni Shiite rebels bombed the house of a pro-government tribal chief in the north of the country killing three people, the interior ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry, in a statement on its Internet website, described Friday’s attack against the house of Sheikh Saghir Aziz in Harf Sufyan as an “act of sabotage.”

Aziz was not in the house at the time but three of his supporters were killed, it said, adding that authorities had launched an investigation to bring the assailants to justice.

The attack was the second in 12 days in Harf Sufyan, in Amran province, allegedly involving Zaidi Shiite rebels.

On June 22, a Yemeni soldier was killed and three others wounded in an ambush which a security official blamed on the Zaidis, who have denied responsibility.

The rebels, also known as Huthis after their clan leaders, have been involved in an on-off war with the Sanaa government since 2004. The latest round of heavy fighting lasted six months before ending with a February truce.

Attacks blamed on the Shiite rebels have been frequent since the truce went into effect.

On June 16, a rebel shot dead a Yemeni soldier in the northern province of Saada, and two weeks earlier four rebels and two pro-government tribesmen were killed in clashes.