Wednesday, December 6, 2017

On Monday, former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed in a shooting attack by Houthi rebels near the capital city Sana’a, Houthi-controlled Interior Ministry in Sana’a confirmed. A statement issued by the interior ministry read, “The militias of treason are finished and their leader has been killed”.

Recently, a battle broke out in Sana’a between supporters of Saleh and Houthi rebels. For a long time, these two parties fought side by side against the international Saudi-led coalition in the civil war ongoing since early 2015. Saleh’s home in Sana’a had been under siege for about 48 hours before Saleh’s death. The home in Sana’a was bombed. Salah was reportedly leaving for his hometown Sanhan. According to Houthi officials, he was followed by Houthi fighters in 20 armoured vehicles who surrounded and then killed him together with some of his senior aids at a checkpoint south of the capital.

75-year-old Saleh announced two days before his death he was no longer aligned with the Houthis. He declared himself willing to “turn the page” with regards to the relationships with the Saudi-led international coalition, if they would stop the attacks on Yemen. Moreover, he said “The country had to be saved from the madness of the Houthi group”. This statement came on the fourth day of the ongoing battle in Sana’a between Saleh’s own supporters and insurgent Houthi fighters.

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