aid caravan en-route to Dammaj was a military caravan and attacked Houthi followers in Kitaf area. The Houthis called the convoy a provocation through which foreign forces were trying to ignite sectarian violence in the region. Eight Houthis and six tribesmen were killed and fifteen people were injured in the fighting. On 19 December, Houthis shelled Dammaj, killing five Sunnis including a child. The next day, fighters from the Sunni Wa'ela tribe attacked the western side of Dammaj in an attempt to bring aid into the town. Five Wa'ela tribal fighters and four Houthis were killed during the clashes. Ceasefire On 22 December, a tribal ceasefire was signed in which both sides agreed to the removal of all their military checkpoints and barriers around the town. Neutral armed men from the Hashid and Bakil tribes were deployed around the town to ensure both sides adhere to the ceasefire. Despite this, the truce did not last long. Clashes between Houthi rebels and Salafi fighters erupted again on 12 January 2012 which takes place at Sa'dah outskirts and Mustaba in Hajjah Governorate. In June 2012, renewed clashes between Houthi tribesmen and Salafi students left 22 dead from the latter, including 2 British citizens. Renewed clashes On 29 October 2013, fighting started again when Houthi forces shelled a Salafi mosque and the adjacent Quranic religious school, prompting an attack from 4,000 Salafi fighters who had gathered in Dammaj. 58 were killed and a hundred wounded in the Salafi side, with no reports of casualties on the Houthi side. In 21 December, the Houthi-Salafi conflict has soon spilled over to Amran Governorate, leaving several fighters from both sides dead and wounded. This came amidst pro-Islah and Salafi armed tribesmen tried to open different fronts in Amran and Al Jawf Governorates, as well as tribesmen in Arhab, north of Sana’a, blocked the roads leading to Sa'dah preventing the entrance of goods and services toward Houthi groups into Sa'dah. Houthi rebels and Salafi fighters continue at many northern governorates on early January 2014. By this time, the sectarian conflict has been reported in Sa'dah, Amran, Al Jawf, and Hajjah. However, the Houthis soon managed to advance towards Salafi positions, the latter who were slowly outgunned due to Houthi siege, in Kitaf and Al Buqa. Consequently, the rebels blow up the Dar al-Hadith religious school and 20 houses, symbolically destroying Salafi hegemony in Dammaj. Government mediation The