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A senior security official was gunned down by suspected Houthi gunmen in southeastern Yemen on Saturday, according to a local security source.
The gunmen opened fire on security operations chief Ali Naji al-Sharif in Usaylan district in Shabwah province and fled the scene unscathed, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the security source suggested that the gunmen belonged to a Houthi-run cell, without giving further details.
UN envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths arrived in the capital Sanaa on Wednesday for peace talks with Houthi rebels to end the four-year Yemeni conflict.Griffiths touched down at Sanaa International Airport from Saudi capital Riyadh, an airport official said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.The UN envoy's talks with Houthi rebels are expected to focus on a proposed plan to halt fighting in the coastal province of Al-Hudaydah.Griffiths had met with Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed bin Daghr in Riyadh to listen to the government’s official response to his proposed roadmap.Yemen's Houthis hit Saudi oil tanker causing slight damageHouthis target Saudi warship off Yemen coastAccording to Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, the plan calls for a total Houthi pullout from Al-Hudayday and deployment of Yemeni police forces there and enlisting UN observers to improve works in Al-Hudaydah airport.Last month, Yemeni government forces -- backed by the Saudi-led military coalition -- waged a wide-ranging operation to retake Al-Hudaydah and its strategic seaport from Houthi rebels.However, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a member of the Saudi-led coalition, announced a pause in military operations in the port city earlier this month to give room for talks aimed at achieving Houthi pullout from the province.Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including Sanaa.The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.The violence has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including health and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.
UN envoy in Sanaa for talks with Yemen rebels
Yemen's Houthi movement attacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea, causing slight damage, the Western-backed Arab coalition said on Wednesday, after the Houthis reported targeting a Saudi warship in the area.Saudi Arabia and Sunni Muslim allies have been fighting in Yemen for three years against the Iran-aligned Houthis, who control much of North Yemen including the capital Sanaa and drove a Saudi-backed government into exile in 2014.The Saudi-led coalition says one of the main justifications for its intervention is to protect shipping routes such as the Red Sea, which is used to bring Middle Eastern oil and Asian goods to Europe through the Suez Canal. It has said that it foiled previous attacks in the Red Sea in April and May.Houthis target Saudi warship off Yemen coast"The Saudi oil tanker was subjected to slight damage due to the attack by the Houthi militia," said a statement carried by Saudi state media. It did not name the vessel or describe the method of attack.Saudi Aramco referred a Reuters' query about the incident to the relevant government ministry.The Houthis' Al Masirah TV said earlier on Twitter that it had targeted a warship named the Dammam off the western coast of Yemen, without providing details.The Houthis have also fired missiles into Saudi Arabia. The coalition has carried out a campaign of thousands of air strikes and reestricted imports into Yemen, worsening what the United Nations says is potentially the world's worst humanitarian crisis.Saudi Arabia accuses arch-regional foe Iran of supplying missiles to the Houthis, something Tehran and the Houthis deny.
Houthi attack damages Saudi ship off Yemen coast
Impoverished Yemen has remained wracked by violence since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.
The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.