SANAA, Yemen, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Some 65,000 Yemeni students were moved to makeshift study camps after militant Shiite rebels fighting the government took over 63 schools, the government said.
The Houthi rebels in the northwestern Saada province forced the students to flee their homes as well as their schools, the official Yemeni news agency SABA reported.
The rebels allegedly seized teachers, initially forcing them to teach their ideology, and took over 63 schools stationing guerrillas to fight government troops, the news agency said.
The conflict, nearly two weeks after Yemeni security forces said they killed 100 rebels, is part of intensified fighting since the army began "Operation Scorched Earth" Aug. 11.
Some 150,000 people have fled their homes in the region since Shiite tribesmen launched an insurgency in 2004.
The Education Ministry, working with UNICEF and other local authorities, has outfitted places in refugee camps where students can learn, the news agency said. Houthis, also known as the Believing Youth, are a reputed Zeidi Shiite insurgent group fighting Yemeni authorities and pro-government tribesmen.
The Yemeni government claims the rebels want to overthrow it and impose Shiite religious law. The rebels say they are defending their community against discrimination and what they call aggressive government acts.
U.S. and Saudi officials fear the growing fighting will create instability that al-Qaida, whose militancy is growing in Yemen, could exploit to carry out attacks in Saudi Arabia, which borders its north.
Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has barred journalists and diplomats from traveling independently to Saada.
