SANAA: Huthi militia in Yemen fought pitched battles with the army in the capital Sanaa for several hours on Monday in the biggest challenge yet to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi’s rule.
The militia, known as Huthis, seized an army base near the presidential palace, took control of state media and fired on a convoy carrying the prime minister before officials said a ceasefire had taken effect.
A security official said the halt in fighting had been agreed during a meeting of the defence and interior ministers with a Huthi representative.
Residents in areas around the presidential palace confirmed the fighting had subsided.
The clashes raised international concern, with the Arab League and the British and US embassies calling for an immediate end to the fighting.
A medical source said at least two people were killed and the health ministry said 55 were wounded.
The Huthis seized control of Sanaa in September and strategically important Yemen — which borders Saudi Arabia and is on key Gulf shipping routes — has since been wracked by unrest.
The violence has raised fears that Hadi’s US-backed government, which is a key ally in Washington’s fight against Al Qaeda, will collapse and Yemen will become a failed state similar to Somalia.
The Huthis appeared to be tightening their hold on the capital on Monday, saying they had seized an army base on a hill overlooking the presidential palace.
In a worrying sign for the government, Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf said the Huthis had also taken total control of state television and the official news agency.
State TV, news agency seized: “Yemeni satellite channel is not under state control, nor is state news agency Saba. The Huthis have completely controlled them and are refusing to publish any government statements,” she wrote on Twitter.
Sakkaf said Huthi fighters had also fired on Prime Minister Khalid Bahah’s convoy as he left the presidential residence but that he was unharmed.
Witnesses said the fighting erupted early Monday after the militia deployed reinforcements near the presidential palace.
The military presidential guard sent troops onto the streets surrounding the palace and outside Hadi’s residence.
A security official said the army intervened when the Huthis began to set up a new checkpoint near the presidential palace.
But a prominent Huthi chief, Ali al-Imad, accused the presidential guard of provoking the clashes.
“Hadi’s guard is trying to blow up the situation on the security front to create confusion on the political front,” he said on his Facebook page.
Tensions have been running high in Sanaa since the Huthis abducted Hadi’s chief of staff, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, in an apparent bid to extract changes to a draft constitution that he is overseeing.
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