Free Republic

Heavy fighting in Yemen between pro-government forces and Shiite rebels has killed more than 600 people on both sides in recent days, security officials said Monday. A charity said meanwhile that an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition had destroyed a new cholera clinic in the country's north. Government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, have been advancing along the western coast in recent weeks as they battle the Iran-allied rebels, known as Houthis. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals,...

[subtitle: Video circulating online appears to show Ali Abdullah Saleh's corpse being dragged on the ground] Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed Monday that ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh had been killed as fighting shook the capital Sana'a following the collapse of his alliance with the insurgents. The claim, which could not be independently confirmed, came as Yemen's long and devastating civil war took a potentially decisive turn. Heavy clashes were reported in the city between forces loyal to Saleh and the Iran-backed Shiite rebels, who together seized control of Sana'a from the internationally recognized government three years ago. Moving to take advantage...

In Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels are clashing with supporters of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh — an outburst of deadly violence between two groups that have recently been allies. Meanwhile, the Houthi rebels are claiming to have fired a missile at a nuclear power plant under construction in the United Arab Emirates. The claim has been denied by state media in UAE. The WAM news agency also says that the UAE would have the ability to shoot down such a missile, if it were fired, The Associated Press reports. Last month, Houthi rebels fired a missile...

Yemen’s government says it won’t participate in UN-brokered peace talks with Houthis unless the rebels withdraw from conquered territory. The talks were to be the second major diplomatic push to end the war. The office of Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi said in a statement on Sunday there would be no meeting until the Shiite Houthis “recognize international resolution 2216 and agree to implement it unconditionally.” The United Nations resolution stipulates that the rebels must surrender any weapons taken from state institutions and withdraw from land they have seized. …