Yemen: High-ranking security commander killed in clashes between police and tribes

Previously hidden conflict between security authorities and tribes has boiled over in Marib province

Yemeni soldiers participate in a military manoeuvre in the eastern province of Marib, Yemen in January 2018. EPA

A high-ranking security commander was killed on Wednesday in clashes with tribal gunmen in northern Yemen, a military source in Marib province said.

“The deputy director of the security forces in Marib city, Col Mujahed Mabkhout Al Shareef, was killed and four tribal men and seven security soldiers wounded during fierce clashes between the police and tribal gunmen from Al Amir tribe in the Ashraf area of Marib,” the source said.

The clashes extended into a third day on Wednesday.

Col Al Shareef was killed after an attack by tribe members on a checkpoint affiliated with local police near Marib Dam on Monday.

Tension has been rising with some tribes living in the outskirts of the city and other districts in the northern Yemeni province over the past year.

A tribe member told The National that the tension stems from accusations by the security authorities that the tribe is in league with the Houthi rebels.

The Amir tribe, along with others, accuses the security authorities in Marib of being tools at the hands of the Islah party, the Muslim Brotherhood's group in Yemen.

“The Islah party has been controlling everything in our province,” the tribal source said. “They have been granting all the opportunities for their loyalists and deprived us from our rights.

“They brought employees from other provinces to serve in Marib and recruited thousands of their loyalists in the security forces and in the army.

"Our sons are discriminated against and deprived of such opportunities. This is not fair."