12 Yemeni police killed in ambush by Houthi followers

A Yemeni tribal source said on Monday that 12 men of the Yemeni security forces including many officers were killed on Saturday in an ambush implanted by the Houthi followers, of al-Zeidi minority sect, in Menya town in Sadah governorate ( northewest of Yemen).

The source said that the gunmen opened fire intensively from their machineguns on the car which was carrying the police members from Manbah town, 60 kilometers northeast of Sadah.

The source said that all of them were killed instantly. The source which asked to be anonymous said that among the killing were "three police officers, one of them is Jamal al-Omari, a relative for Maj. Gen. Yahya al-Omari, the governor of Sadah," indicating that the gunmen were able to escape.

For its part, the Yemeni government confirmed that the attack took place, One security source said that the attack took place but gave no statistics, confined to noting that bodies of the victims were buried in the martyrs cemetery in Sanaa on Monday evening.

This attack came months after the government's announcement it had controlled the second rebellion of the Houthi group, a group which is led by Bader Eddine al-Houthi through "al-Shabab al-Moumin" ( believing youths) organization. This is since the killing of his son Hussein al-Houthi in September 2004.

On September 25th, the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced an amnesty to those rebel supporters of the organization and ordered their release.

Worthy mentioning that this group does not recognize the republican regime which toppled the Zeidi Imamah system to which ( the believing youths ) affiliates in Yemen in 1962.