Landmines kill 10 in northern Yemen battle zone

At least 10 people were killed by landmine explosions on Friday in a part of northern Yemen where Shi'ite Muslim fighters and tribal militiamen have fought running battles for months, the defence ministry said.

In a text message, the ministry said three mines killed civilians in the province of Hajja, which neighbours Saada province where the Houthi rebel movement has effective control and has fought tribal forces, some espousing a puritanical Sunni Muslim doctrine, Salafism, that deems Shi'ites heretics.

The Houthis, who take their name from a tribal leader of their own, were the target of successive campaigns then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh waged from 2004-2009, and Saudi Arabia intervened against them militarily late in that conflict.

Over the last year, Houthis in Saada have skirmished with Salafis whom they claim Riyadh is arming, and the conflict has displaced some of the province's population to Hajja.

The United States has said Iran may be playing a role in the north, echoing charges levelled by the Sunni monarchs of Yemen's neighbours that Tehran is meddling among its Shi'ite religious brethren the aim of expanding its influence in the Gulf. Iran denies such accusations.

Yemen's northern conflict is one of several confronting a transitional leadership that succeeded Saleh last month under the terms of a Gulf-brokered pact, after a year of mass protests against him and a split in the army that threatened civil war.