Sana’a: Yemen’s official news agency says the country’s powerful Al Houthi rebels who control the capital, Sana’a, have stormed the building of the nation’s main state newspaper and ousted the chief editor.
SABA quotes the Information Ministry as saying Al Thawra’s headquarters was overrun on Wednesday in order “to manipulate editorial policy.”
It calls the action a “blatant assault” and a “grave violation of the freedom of the press.”
The ministry did not openly say Al Houthis, who swept into Sana’a and several major cities over the past months, were behind the assault.
Officials at the paper say armed militants raided the building and ousted chief editor, Faisal Makram, after accusing him of corruption. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity for fear for their own safety.
In a separate incident, a bomb struck a Yemeni police convoy in southeastern province of Hadramout Wednesday killing five policemen and injuring four others, a military official told Xinhua.
“An explosive device went off near one of the vehicles of the police convoy on the main road in Seiyun town in Hadramout province, killing five policemen and injuring four others on the spot,” the military official said on condition of anonymity.
Another military source said that two officers were among the wounded in the blast that was detonated remotely when the military vehicle came close to a checkpoint.
The Yemeni army and police forces have closed the area for investigation, according to the sources.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but militants of the Yemen-based Al Qaida branch are active in the area and often attack government forces and installations.
Yemeni military officials have blamed gunmen with Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) for a series of assassinations and armed attacks, mostly in the country’s southern regions.
AQAP, which emerged in January 2009 and is also known locally as Ansar Al Sharia, is considered one of the greatest threats to the Yemeni government and neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
