Reports: Ex-Yemen President Saleh killed in Houthi attack

The Houthis today bombed the house and office of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sana’a today, though Saleh was not in the property, he was later killed as he tried to escape to Mareb.

Media sources, the Yemeni Ministry of the Interior and the Houthis have all reported that Saleh was killed today; his General People’s Congress confirmed the claims later in the day.

Video footage, seen by MEMO, has been circulated online showing the body of someone who looks like the former president with a large wound in his head, however the footage could not be verified and is too graphic to publish.

A mortar shell also struck the Sana’a International Airport today amid increasing clashes between the Houthis and Saleh loyalists. The Houthis have now declared victory over Saleh’s forces in the Yemeni capital, adding that they had “cleansed” the city of Saleh’s presence.

Read: Yemen: Saleh seeks Iran, Hezbollah to mediate dispute with Houthis

Until recently, Saleh and the Houthis had been allies battling to regain control of the country from the internationally backed government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

However their alliance has been marked with tensions with news this weekend that Saleh was happy to begin talks with Saudi Arabia to end the conflict in the country which has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced more than 11 per cent of the country’s population.

Impoverished Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sana’a.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a massive air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s embattled government.

 

NOTE 15:09

An earlier version of this news piece reported that Saleh had been killed in the bombing of his house which was incorrect.

This piece has been updated to show that the General Peopel’s Congress has confirmed Saleh’s death.