Yemen ex-president killed as fighting shakes capital

The collapse of the alliance between Saleh and the rebels saw at least 100 people reported dead in fighting, accusations of betrayal and the former leader reaching out to the Saudi-led coalition.

The fighting continued on Monday, with reports of heavy clashes and coalition strikes against Huthi-controlled government buildings and around Sanaa airport.

The government, which has operated out of southern city Aden since being ousted from the capital, ordered an offensive to advance on Sanaa.

“The president has ordered Vice President Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who is in Marib (east of Sanaa), to activate military units and advance towards the capital,” a presidency official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Military and government sources said the army would advance on Sanaa from the east and northeast, with at least seven battalions ordered to move forward.

The government also reached out to Saleh’s supporters with an offer of amnesty.

“The president will soon announce a general amnesty for all those who collaborated with the Huthis in recent months and who have retracted that allegiance,” said Prime Minister Ahmad Obaid bin Daghr.

– Fears for civilians –

The Saleh-Huthi alliance had been fraught since its inception in 2014, when the two ended decades of enmity and joined ranks to capture Sanaa from Hadi’s government.

Saudi Arabia, accusing Iran of backing the rebels, intervened in Yemen on behalf of the government the following year.

Saleh on Saturday announced he was open to talks with Saudi Arabia and its allies on condition they ended their crippling blockade of Yemen’s ports and airports.

That dealt a serious blow to his already fragile alliance with rebel chief Abdul Malik al-Huthi.

In a televised speech on Monday, Huthi made no mention of Saleh’s death but expressed his satisfaction at the day’s events.

“Today marked the failure of the conspiracy and treason, a black day for the forces of aggression,” he said on Al-Masirah.

The fresh violence has increased fears for civilian victims of Yemen’s war, which has claimed more than 8,750 lives since the Saudi-led coalition intervened.

The conflict has pushed Yemen to the brink of mass starvation and triggered what the UN has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

International aid groups warned Monday they were losing the ability to reach civilians in Sanaa.

“Ambulances and medical teams can’t access injured, people can’t buy food and other supplies,” UNICEF’s Rajat Madhok tweeted.

“Aid workers can’t travel and implement critical life-saving programmes. This latest violence couldn’t come at a worse time.”