SANAA: The Yemeni air force bombed Shia fighters north of Sanaa on Saturday in fighting that caused “a large number of casualties”, local officials said, after a truce reached last month between the insurgents and government forces collapsed.

The fighting in northern Yemen, which has taken on a sectarian tone, is further destabilising a country struggling to overcome many problems, including a secessionist movement in its restive south and the nationwide spread of Al Qaeda insurgency.

Shia Houthi fighters, officially known as Ansarullah, blamed army units linked to the rival Sunni Islah party for breaking the June 23 ceasefire on Friday when government troops advanced on an area in al-Jouf province.

A Yemeni government official said the army’s advance on the town of al-Safra in the province northeast of Sanaa had been prompted by the failure of Houthi fighters to vacate positions in compliance with the ceasefire.

Published in Dawn, July 6th, 2014