Fierce confrontations erupted between Jawf tribesmen and Houthi followers, with tribesmen disappointing an insurgency extension attempt after rebel leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi announced a new front was opened in governorate.
Houthi fighters were stationed in the Khab district, near the highway linking Saada and Jawf provinces when the tribesmen of Thu Hussein surrounded them and forced them out.
Faisal Abod, Secretary-General of Khab district told media outlets that Dahm tribes also created a blockade against Houthis in the region. He added that many clashes took place and caused many injuries among Houthi followers.
Meanwhile, local sources in Al-Jawf told Yemen Post that Dham tribesmen held meeting with the brigade commander and head of the Central Security in the governorate. During the meeting, tribesmen demanded security officials to save the governorate from Houthis.
Tribesmen said that their demands didn’t find any response from the officials who said that every tribe should surround Houthis in its own region and defend itself.
Locals told Yemen Post correspondent that about 50 Houthi followers infiltrated to the governorate earlier to develop new battlefronts there.
The confrontations come as the army continues to battle the rebels in the far north in an offensive that was launched in August this year.
Earlier the Security Committee in Jawf said a plan was set out for hunting those rebels committing subversion in Jawf in support of their fellows in Saada.
They should be eradicated, it said in a statement.
Earlier in the week, Houthi followers attacked people in the city, located northeast Sana’a, killing one.
In the war context, a spokesman for the army has said that 10 Houthi members including field leaders surrendered in the district of Harf Sufyan, Amran.
Local political experts explain the Houthi expansion as a tool for Houthis to link themselves with minority Saudi Shites, who have strong presence in Najran, which is on the opposite side of Jawf on the Saudi border.