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33 reported killed in central Yemen as Shiite Houthis, Sunnis clash

A US drone kills seven suspected Al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen who were on their way to carry out an attack, Yemeni military sources said.

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Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
Students demonstrate against the deployment of armed militia of the Shi'ite Houthi movement at Sanaa University campus in Sanaa November 12, 2014. The Houthis established themselves as power brokers in Yemen two months ago by capturing Sanaa with scant resistance from the administration of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and began advancing into central and western Yemen this month.
  • By Mohammed Ghobari Reuters

| Sanaa, Yemen

At least 33 people have been killed in central Yemen in fighting in the past two days between Shiite Muslim Houthi fighters trying to expand their control and Sunni tribes allied with Al Qaeda, residents said on Wednesday.

Residents said tribesmen and allied Ansar al-Sharia militants in the Qifa area, home to powerful Sunni tribes in al-Baydah province, had captured several hilltops, including al-Thaaleb (foxes) mountain overlooking an Al Qaeda stronghold that had been seized by the Houthis.

Yemeni military sources said a US drone had killed seven suspected Al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen while they were on their way to carry out an attack.

Yemen, a US ally which shares a long border with the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has been engulfed in political turmoil since mass protests ousted its veteran president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in 2011.

The Houthis, who captured the Yemeni capital Sanaa almost without a fight in September and forced the government to resign, are continuing to expand across the country despite the formation of a new government bringing in supporters of the group and representatives of southern Yemeni separatists.

The Houthis hail mainly from the north.

They have objected to some members of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah's new team, saying they do not meet criteria agreed in a September power-sharing deal.

In the southern Shabwa province, Yemeni military sources said a US drone destroyed a Hilux truck carrying at least seven militants on their way to an attack in the city of Azzan.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula often attacks government troops in southern Yemen , which sometimes draws drone strikes. Washington acknowledges using drones in Yemen, but does not comment publicly on the practice.

On Tuesday, CNN reported from Washington that the US military is updating evacuation plans for the US Embassy in Yemen in the wake of rising violence. It cited an unnamed defense official as saying the US is "poised to act if it becomes necessary to get people out," which the official said is "more likely now." CNN also quoted a State Department official as saying that such planning goes on all the time and that so far, "no decisions have been made."

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