Death
toll from week-long clashes in the Yemeni capital Sanaa has increased
to 234, while 400 others were wounded, including 383 severely
injured, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for the
Middle East said Tuesday.
"Our
ICRC teams are now doing all they can to supply hospitals with
medicines, surgical materials and fuel," Robert Mardini, the
regional director of the ICRC tweeted.
On
Monday, dominant Houthi fighters killed former President Ali Abdullah
Saleh, his relatives and his senior aides after three days of deadly
street clashes between Houthi movement and Saleh's armed loyalists in
Sanaa.
Officials
at Saudi-backed Saleh's party vowed to revenge their leader's death
and to continue fighting against Iranian-aligned Houthis.
The
clashes first erupted a week ago after Saleh's loyalists prevented
Houthis from entering a Saleh-run mosque to secure a nearby religious
celebration organized by the group in Sabeen Square in central Sanaa.
The
clashes then intensified and turned into street fighting after Saleh
on Saturday announced disengagement of his alliance with the Houthis
and declared war against them, citing allegedly "Houthi assaults
on his family members."
Hours
after Houthis announced the death of Saleh, the Houthi leader
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi made a televised speech, saying his group had
"foiled a plot by ex-president Saleh to involve all Yemeni
people in armed chaos." Houthi leader also accused Saleh of
backing a Saudi-led military coalition.
Together,
Saleh and Houthis had aligned in fighting against the Saudi-led
coalition since Saleh's loyalists backed Houthis in storming Sanaa in
2014 and forcing Saudi-backed president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and
his government into exile.
The
clashes in Sanaa and surrounding provinces stopped on Monday
following the announcement of Saleh's death, while the security
situations are calm.
Meanwhile,
the Saudi-led coalition warplanes have since launched over 30
airstrikes on positions of Houthis inside and outside Sanaa, with no
reports of casualties.
Observers
said the death of Saleh could escalate a violent sectarian proxy war
between pro-Sunni Saudi Arabia and pro-Shiite Iran.
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