Hiiraan Online
Friday, December 27, 2013
At least 9 Somali immigrants have been killed in renewed clashes between rival Shi’ites and Sunni Muslims fighting in northern Yemen, while dozens reported to have been missing. More than 40 other Somalis were also wounded in the escalating armed confrontations in the Damaaj village north of the country.
A Somali student in Yemen Mohamed Bukhari told the VOA Somali service that the Somali immigrants were among 184 people killed since the fighting erupted between the Sunni Muslims and the Shi’ies loyal to the Al-Houthi group who also denied humanitarian agencies access to the needy people in the area mostly Sunni Muslims.
“More than 500 hundred people including 43 Somali immigrants have also been wounded in the escalating armed confrontations between both Islamist groups” Mohamed Bukhari told VOA Somali service.
Bukhari noted that 38 Somali immigrants have also been missing since the fighting erupted in the village. The Yemeni government has been unable to quell the violence in the Damaaj village where at least 7,000 inhabitants live.
Yemen currently holds thousands of Somali refugees who reached there on a voyage after they were unsuccessful to reach Saudi Arabia as their last destination. Thousands of desperate African refugees mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia travel to Yemen every year, as their gateway to Saudi Arabia in search of a better life.
Thousands of others die in the red sea waters during the voyage as a result of their boats capsizing whilst some of them are deliberately thrown into the sea by their smugglers.
Hiiraan Online English News Desk