The al-Hattab tribe in the Hamdan region north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa revolted against the Iran-backed Houthi militias after they murdered one of the locals.
Local sources and witnesses told Asharq Al-Awsat that the militias raided a wedding in Hamdan under the pretense of cracking down on guests who had fired gunshots into the air in celebration.
The Houthis promptly arrested the groom, identified as Amer Ali Hadi al-Hattabi, and his father, before the situation escalated and left the groom dead at one of the Houthi-controlled police stations in the Darwan region.
His death sparked clashes between the residents of the Hattab village with the Houthis.
The sources said that two Houthis and four villagers were killed, amid tribal pleas in Hamdan for assistance in putting an end to the militia aggression.
Abdulwahhab Qatran, a judge who had defected from the Houthis, said that this was the third time since the Houthis captured Sanaa in 2014 that clashes erupt between them and the Hattab locals.
The locals refuse to yield to the militias’ authority.
The Houthis killed the groom after he was taken to the Darwan police station, said the Hamdan native in a Facebook post. The Hattab tribe members killed a Houthi militant in retaliation.
Local sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the situation in Hamdan was set to escalate after many local elders said that the clashes will rage on as long as the militias continued their oppressive practices.
The Houthis had previously banned any forms of celebration at weddings, saying that even music could not be played at those events. It has stormed many weddings in an attempt to uphold its orders.
