Huthi rebels seize key route in clashes

DUBAI: Yemen´s Huthi rebels made gains against government troops north and east of Sanaa on Monday, seizing a strategic road in deadly fighting, loyalist military officials told AFP.

The pro-government sources said the rebels had captured the route that connects Sanaa to the provinces of Marib, to the east, and Jawf to the north. Dozens have been killed or wounded in the fighting around Sanaa in the past 48 hours, according to these military sources, but they were not able to give precise figures.

"The Huthis are now seeking to take Hazm, the capital of Jawf province," one official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The rebels were now just five kilometres (three miles) from the city, this source added.

Before the latest upsurge in fighting, Jawf province had been mostly controlled by the Huthis, with its capital still in the hands of the government. Marib province is partly under Huthi control, with its capital also held by the government.

The renewed fighting, which erupted nearly two weeks ago, included a January 18 missile strike on a loyalist military camp that killed 116 people. The clashes have shattered a period of relative calm in a country devastated by five years of war. On Monday a missile struck a popular market west of the city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen, killing three civilians and wounding seven others, according to the Saba news agency, which blamed the Huthis for the attack.