Yemeni ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh killed in Sanaa fighting: Reports

Former President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been killed in fighting with the Iran-aligned Houthi militia raging in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said on Monday, quoting sources in Saleh's party.

Media controlled by the rebel Houthi movement quoted officials as declaring the "end of the crisis of the treason militia and the killing of its leader".

Sources inSaleh's General People's Congress party also confirmed that he was dead, according to Al Arabiya TV.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Pictures and video circulated online showed the body of a man resembling Saleh with a severe head wound.

Until last week, Saleh's supporters had been fighting alongside the Houthis in a war against Yemen's current president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.

Al Arabiya quoted a source in Saleh's General Peoples Congress as saying he was killed by sniper bullets. A Houthi video distributed on social media showed what appeared to be Saleh's body, clad in grey clothes and being carried out on a red blanket. The side of his head bore a deep wound.

Unverified footage that circulated earlier on social media showed armed militiamen unfurling a blanket containing the corpse and shouting, "Praise God!" and "Hey Ali Affash!", another last name for Saleh.

The radio station of the Houthi-run Yemeni Interior Ministry first reported Saleh's death but his party quickly denied this to Reuters, saying he was still leading his forces in Sanaa.

Earlier on Monday, Houthi forces blew up Saleh's house in Sanaa and came under aerial attack by Saudi-led coalition warplanes for the second day, residents said.