At least 23 people were killed on Wednesday and Thursday in the central province of Al-Bayda during heavy fighting that broke out when the Iran-backed Houthis moved to suppress an uprising led by powerful tribes.

The Houthis on Wednesday night launched missile and drone attacks on Radman district before deploying forces on the ground to suppress a rebellion by local tribes known as Al-Awadh. The aerial assault hit buildings, killing three people. 

On Thursday, at least 20 Houthis were killed after tribesmen foiled their advance toward Radman.

“We pushed back their offensive on Radman after destroying several vehicles and killing many Houthis,” Mustafa Al-Baydani, a journalist from Radman district, told Arab News by telephone. “They failed to advance in the mountainous areas and the tribes are determined to go ahead with fighting.” 

Tensions between Al-Awadh and the Houthis have been building up since early last month, when the Houthis refused to punish local fighters who had killed a woman called Jehad Al-Asbahi.

Led by Yasser Al-Awadhi, a senior member of the General People’s Congress party and a staunch supporter of Yemen’s former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Al-Awadh tribes have not engaged in anti-Houthi military operations over the last five years even after Houthi killed Saleh in late 2017. When the Houthis refused to admit killing the woman, the tribesmen took up arms and vowed to punish the militia.

Al-Awadhi urged local tribes to come together to push back Houthi aggressions on their territories.

A Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, accused Al-Awadhi of leading a rebellion and attacking their followers in Radman. Yemeni politicians, tribesmen and activists, who oppose the Houthis, have hailed the tribal uprising in Radman and urged the internationally recognized government and local tribesmen to stand by Al-Awadhi tribes against the Houthis.

Ahmed bin Dagher, an adviser to the Yemeni president and a former prime minister, praised army troops who scored victories in Marib, Jawf and Al-Baydha during the latest fighting with the Houthis, calling on Yemenis to support any uprising against the Houthis. 

“A special greeting to those (fighters) who are standing with Sheikh (Yasser) Al-Awadi,” bin Dagher tweeted on Thursday.

In Nehim district, near Houthi-controlled Sanaa, warplanes from the Saudi-led coalition destroyed 20 military vehicles carrying Houthi fighters and military equipment bound for the battlefield, the Yemeni Defense Ministry said. 

Fighting has been raging in Nehim for more than six days as government forces push to make territorial gains in the rugged mountainous area and break years of military stalemate in the district. 

The ministry said that the army and allied tribesmen had seized control of a number locations in Nehim, crediting precise airstrikes by coalition warplanes for paving the way for progress on the ground and preventing Houthis from regrouping and resupplying.

The conflict is ongoing despite the coronavirus pandemic. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that Yemen’s COVID-19 fatality rate was “alarming” and four times higher than the global average.

The national coronavirus committee said Wednesday that the total number of confirmed infections in government-controlled areas was 902 and that the death toll was 244.AFP