Yemen capital sees second day of fighting

SANAA, Yemen – Clashes took place for a second straight day Friday between Shiite Hawthi rebels and their Sunni rivals in several areas of the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

Rebels and militiamen from the Sunni Islah Party, allegedly backed by government forces, were engaged in fierce fighting near the state television building in the Sanaa northern district of al-Jaraf.

“Since last night, the building has been sporadically hit by fire from fighting raging around the place,” a TV employee said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The broadcaster went off the air for almost an hour on Friday following shelling by Hawthi forces, Dubai-based broadcaster Al-Arabiya reported.

The violence spread to other areas of Sanaa, prompting foreign airlines to suspend their flights to the city for 24 hours.

The latest unrest follows days of fighting between the Hawthis and government troops, backed by Sunni tribesmen, on the outskirts of Sanaa. Dozens have been killed in the fighting, according to Al-Arabiya.

The movement’s followers have in recent weeks staged a series of rallies and set up camps near key ministries in Sanaa to press for the removal of the government and the reinstatement of full energy subsidies.

The crisis is the most serious since Yemeni President President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi took office in 2012.

The authorities accuse the Hawthis of seeking to reinstall the rule of the hereditary Ziaidi imams, who were toppled by a republican revolution in northern Yemen in 1962.

Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, also faces a secessionist movement in the formerly independent south and an insurgency by al-Qaida operatives.