Armed elements from the Houthi rebels blew up a house on Tuesday in a town southeast of the capital, Sanaa, killing at least nine people from the same family and causing severe damage to neighboring buildings. officials and residents said.
This came a day after two Houthi armed men were killed in an ambush allegedly set up by the house's owner, Ibrahim al-Zalei.
The deceased — a set of parents and their seven children — were killed in the explosion, according to local residents who were trying to pull out others buried under the rubble.
Local sources said the Houthi elements besieged the house and its surroundings, in Al Bayda province early Tuesday, before booby-trapping the house and blowing it up.
In a statement, the Houthi rebels-run Interior Ministry said detonating the house was an “irresponsible reaction” by their local security forces who used “excessive force in an unauthorized way” while pursuing suspects behind Monday's ambush. The statement add that an investigation committee has been formed to bring those involved to justice.
The statement didn't provide a death toll following the house blowup, but confirmed fatalities.
The Houthi rebels have imposed a repressive rule in Sanaa and other areas they control in Yemen. They have cracked down on any possible sign of rebellion among residents, jailing thousands and confiscating large swathes of land from those deemed dissents.