Yemen allies fight on in Sanaa as mediation efforts collapse

ADEN – Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's supporters battled Iran-aligned Houthis for a fourth day on Saturday in the capital Sanaa, residents said, in a widening rift that could affect the course of a more than 2-1/2 year civil war.

The two groups have been allies in fighting a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015 aiming to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthis forced him into exile.

The clashes underscore the complex situation in Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Middle East, where a proxy war between the Iran-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed Hadi has caused one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in recent times.

Residents described heavy fighting on the streets of Hadda, a residential district in southern Sanaa where many of Saleh's relatives, including his nephew Tareq, live.