Yemen war on rebels heightens instability

SANA'A: Yemen's latest assault on Shi'ite rebels in the north seems unlikely to end a conflict that has flickered for five years and inflicted thousands of casualties.

It may only deepen instability in a poor country also struggling with southern separatists, Al-Qaida militants and a disastrous mismatch between fast-depleting oil and water resources and explosive population growth, analysts say.

The well-armed rebels, operating in rugged mountainous terrain, are led by Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, whose group embodies a revivalist strand of the Zaydi branch of Shi'ite Islam.