BY AGENCIES
The former President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has been killed in clashes with rival Houthi fighters, the country’s Houthi-controlled interior ministry confirmed.
Houthi-controlled al-Masirah TV cited Houthi officials as announcing the “end of the crisis of the treason militia and the killing of its leader”.
Sources from his political party confirmed their leader and ex-President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed on Monday during fierce clashes in the capital Sanaa with Houthi militias.
Having reported the death of their ex-president and former ally, the ministry in Yemen said Saleh “was creating chaos by working with militias of aggression.” Houthi security forces now control “all positions” of those militias, it added.
His loyalists have lost ground on the sixth day of heavy urban combat with the Iran-aligned Houthis.
A video showed Saleh lying on blanket surrounded by Houthi militias celebrating his death. The short clip aired on a pro-Houthi television channel appears to show Saleh had sustained a head injury, potentially a gunshot wound.
Until last week, Mr Saleh’s supporters had been fighting alongside the Houthis in a war against Yemen’s current President, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
However, Saleh officially announced the previous night the dissolution of his partnership with former Houthi militia allies.
The Houthis were saying, “your revenge Sayyidi Hussein.”
Hussein Al-Houthis was the founder of the rebel group and was killed by orders from Saleh in 2004.
