A gunmen aboard a motorbike shot dead an al-Houthi Shia rebel commander in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Friday, according to media reports quoting official and tribal sources.
Ibrahim Hassan al-Sharfi was gunned down late Thursday near his home as the Houthis came under pressure in the conflict-wracked country.
Gunmen also attacked a Houthi checkpoint north of Sanaa with machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades, killing several people late on Thursday, according to tribal sources.
In the Shia-populated Dhammar province, south of Sanaa, pro-government fighters attacked Houthi headquarters, killing five people, tribal sources said.
Meanwhile, in the central city of Baida, Sauid-led warplanes targeted a Houthi rebel-held army camp and hit their positions in oil-rich Marib province in Yemen’s east, witnesses said.
The Houthi militiamen have been under fire from a Saudi-led air campaign that began on 26 March, as they battle pro-government fighters, Sunni tribesmen and southern separatists.
The UN envoy for Yemen was due to go to Kuwait on Saturday, before spending a week each in Riyadh and Sanaa to discuss a draft peace proposal on Yemen “until we reach a preliminary agreement,” UN spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told media on Friday.
UN-sponsored talks in Geneva on a ceasefire between Yemen’s warring parties stalled a week ago, as Saudi-led warplanes staged further strikes on the main Houthi armed faction and allies.
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