By Mohamed al-Samei
SANAA
Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia militant group said it killed nine Shiite Houthi militants in a roadside explosion in central Yemen's Al-Bayda' province.
The group announced on Twitter in the early hours of Wednesday that it has detonated an explosive charge near a Houthi checkpoint in Al-Bayda's Reda'a city, killing nine militants.
The group also said that it had killed 17 other Houthi militants earlier in two other attacks on the same day.
Houthi leaders were not immediately available for comment. However, the group rarely discloses its casualties.
Yemen has recently appeared on the verge of civil war, as the Houthis seek to expand their control beyond capital Sanaa, which they took over in late September.
The Houthis' growing influence in the country has pitted the Shiite movement against both Al-Qaeda – said to be active in politically fractious Yemen – and allied tribes.
Recent fighting between the warring camps in the country's central and western regions has left dozens dead.
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