SANAA
Militants from the Shiite Houthi group have kidnapped five university students in Sanaa's Arhab district, a stronghold of the Sunni Arhab tribe.
"Houthi militants took five Arhab University students to an unknown location after having abducted them," a tribal source, requesting anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.
"The students were abducted after they staged a demonstration to protest the takeover of their dormitories by the Houthis some two months ago," the source said.
The militant Shiite group, for its part, has yet to comment on the incident.
For several weeks, the Houthis have waged an aggressive campaign against local Arhab tribesmen on the pretext that the latter are in league with Al-Qaeda.
The Houthis emerged as a formidable political and military force in Yemen when they assumed control of Sanaa last September before moving on to establish control over other parts of the country as well.
The rise of the Houthis has pitted the Shiite group against local Sunni tribes and Al-Qaeda, the latter of which is said to still be active in the country.
Fractious Yemen has remained in the throes of turmoil since autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down in 2012 following a months-long popular uprising against his 33-year rule.
