Two dead after Yemenis clash over water rights

SANAA (Reuters) – Two people died in a southern Yemeni village where the military intervened to end a dispute over water rights, underscoring tensions sparked by a looming water crisis in the impoverished Arabian peninsular state.

Twenty homes were damaged and unarmed residents were forced to flee Shara’ab, in the southern province of Taiz, during the eight-day stand-off. A soldier and a local gunman were killed and four other people were wounded in the violence, which ended Thursday after a deal between the authorities and local leaders. A regional official told Reuters the clashes were sparked by anger over new government regulations on well drilling. “The people have resisted,” the official said. “This province suffers from a severe water crisis. Our ground (water) wells are almost depleted.” Troops were sent in after violence erupted over the ownership of a coveted well license and a number of well diggers were taken hostage during the dispute, the Internet news agency al Sahwa.net said Friday. “After a week of blockade, the military operation made no progress until a factional leader offered to surrender himself in return for a military retreat,” the southern website said. Thursday’s resolution of the clash allowed the faction of one of the local factions to dig a well but it was not immediately clear if the release of the well diggers was part of the deal. The dispute may have been triggered by the need for water to irrigate qat, a mild narcotic leaf that plays a major role in Yemeni life, with men spending half of their day chewing it, even at work. Agriculture accounts for over 90 percent of Yemen’s water use, of which 37 percent goes to irrigate qat, researchers say. …