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 Tribal sources told Reuters on Tuesday the truce, mediated by the
mayor of the capital Sanaa, stipulated that fighters from both sides
withdraw from the area and let the army deploy. The fighting is just one challenge facing U.S.-allied Yemen, where
authorities are struggling to shore up control in the face of
internal conflicts, poor governance and poverty. The stability of Yemen, which neighbors top oil exporter Saudi
Arabia, is of major concern to the West which is worried about the
repercussions of a complete breakdown in security in Yemen, home to
al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
 On Sunday Shi'ite Houthi fighters and their allies from the Hashed
tribal federation seized control of al-Khamri, a region in Omran
province associated with the powerful al-Ahmar clan, an ally of
Salafis, adherents of an austere brand of Sunni Islam. The latest fighting was the worst since clashes began in October
when Houthi rebels, who hold much of northern Saada province on the
Saudi border, moved against Salafi forces in Saada's Dammaj town.
The Houthis accused the Salafis of recruiting foreign fighters to
attack them. Underscoring the growing instability in Yemen, a bomb targeting a
bus carrying Yemeni soldiers in the capital Sanaa killed two people
on Tuesday, a medical source said.
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The blast was the latest in a series of security incidents to hit
the country in less than a week. Two Westerners have been kidnapped
since Friday and three explosions near the French embassy, the
defense ministry and the central bank, shook the capital late on
Sunday. "I was far away from the bus and I suddenly saw a big explosion near
the side where the driver sits," said Ahmed, a taxi driver. "Six ambulances arrived and started transporting the soldiers, there
was blood spilling everywhere," he said.
(Reporting by Mohamed Ghobari; writing by Yara Bayoumy;
editing by
William Maclean and Tom Heneghan)
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