SANAA (AFP)— Fighting overnight between Shiite rebels and army-backed tribes in Yemen's restive north killed 20 people on both sides, a tribal official said on Thursday, raising the death toll in five days of fighting to over 69.

“Violent clashes took place overnight between Huthis and Bin Aziz tribes... leaving 20 dead from both sides,” the official said.
Yemeni army forces deployed in the area intervened to break up the fighting in Harf Sufyan in the northern Amran province, he added.
The rebels used “different types of weapons” in their attempt to control several locations and tighten a siege on Bin Aziz villages, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Fighting in the mountainous north between the two sides over the past four days had left at least 49 people dead, threatening a fragile truce, tribal and rebel sources had said on Wednesday.
Tribal sources had said the confrontations were between the Shiite Huthi rebels and supporters of tribal chief Sheikh Sagheer Aziz, but the rebels said the clashes were with the army, not the tribe.
“We are confronting military positions. These are not tribal areas,” Mohammed Abdul Salam had told AFP by telephone.
The tribal chief, Sheikh Sagheer Aziz is a member of the parliamentary bloc of the ruling General People's Congress party.
Six MPs began a sit-in on Tuesday at the parliament in support of Aziz, demanding government action to end an alleged siege.
Meanwhile, 62 MPs had signed a petition demanding the government “assume responsibility in ending the violations committed by the Huthis,” and threatening to suspend their parliamentary membership if the authorities failed to help Aziz.
The Amran region and the neighboring Saada province have been the scenes of sporadic clashes between the rebels and government-backed tribes.
The Huthis complain of political, social and religious marginalization, and have repeatedly fought with government forces in a conflict that began in 2004, killing thousands and displacing some 250,000 people.
The Huthis and the government have repeatedly exchanged accusations of violating a February ceasefire which ended a six-month round of bloody conflict between the two sides.
Neighboring Saudi Arabia became embroiled in the military fight in November after it accused the rebels of infiltrating its borders, killing one guard and occupying two villages.