SANAA, Yemen (AP) – A third day of fighting in Yemen’s capital pitting Shiite rebels against Sunni militiamen and army units killed at least four civilians and three fighters on Saturday, security and health officials said.
Mortar shells slammed into homes and a local hospital as the Shiite rebels, known as Hawthis, battled militias and troops allied with the Muslim Brotherhood’s Islah party. The officials said three other civilians including a woman, were wounded in the shelling of the hospital.
The latest casualties raise the death toll since Thursday to 22 civilians and at least 123 fighters.
The fighting has raised fears of an all-out sectarian conflict in an impoverished country already grappling with a powerful local al-Qaida affiliate and an increasingly assertive separatist movement in the south.
Just under half the population is Shiite, but they mainly adhere to the Zaydi strain of Shiism, which is seen as very close to Sunni Islam. The two communities have long been intertwined in the political elite and military.