Ansar Allah targets Yemen state TV compound as continue advances against Islamists

After weeks of protests and clashes, the conflict intensified on Thursday when the Houthis aka Ansar Allah clashed with the army on the outskirts of Sanaa.

The fighting expanded mainly between the Houthis and tribesmen allied with Al-Ahmar clan.
Prominent figures from the mainly Sunni Muslim clan, one of the most powerful tribes in Yemen, hold senior positions in the armed forces and the government.

Part of the TV building, which is located near other vital state institutions, caught fire after shelling intensified on Saturday morning, the employee told Reuters, adding that hundreds were trapped in the building as a result.

Yemeni TV broadcast a written message for national and international organisations to intervene to save its employees from the shelling.

In a neighbouring area close to the interior ministry where Houthis have been staging a sit-in, three mortars were fired according to witnesses. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the shelling.

The University of Sanaa, the largest in the country, also closed on Saturday after a mortar fell in its grounds during Friday's clashes.

Late on Friday U.N special envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar, who held meetings with Houthi Leader Abdulmalek Al-Houthi in Saada province on Wednesday and Thursday: "expressed deep regrets regarding this development, including the use of violence, while utmost efforts were underway in order to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis."

A source close to the mediation efforts said President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi would meet with members of political parties today to discuss some of the suggestions made by the Houthis to Benomar to end the conflict.

The Houthis, who belong to the Zaydi sect of Shi'ite Islam, have been involved in a decade-long conflict with the Sunni-dominated government.

In recent weeks, Houthi protesters have blocked the main road to Sanaa's airport and held sit-ins at ministries calling for the ousting of the government and the restoration of subsidies cut by the state in July as part of economic reforms.