SANAA 

Militants from Yemen's Shiite Houthi movement on Thursday kidnapped seven teachers and two students from a religious school in Sanaa's northern Arhab district.

The militants kidnapped the teachers and students as part of a search operation the group is conducting in the district, where they have been carrying out an aggressive operation in search of Al-Qaeda members.

A leading member of the Shiite movement said earlier that the group had raided several homes in Arhab in search of explosives used to kill Yemeni civilians and military personnel.

Ali al-Qahoum said that only people involved in making explosives had been detained by the group.

On Thursday, the Houthis bombed the home of an Arhab tribal leader, a tribal source said.

The source, who asked not to be named, told The Anadolu Agency that Houthi militants had bombed the home of Arhab tribal leader Sheikh Ibrahim al-Hazmi because he reportedly backed Yemen's Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Fractious Yemen has remained in the throes of turmoil since the ouster of long-serving President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012.

The Shiite Houthi group recently took control of Sanaa and has since tried to extend its influence to other parts of the country.

This has brought the group into conflict with local Sunni tribes and Al-Qaeda, the latter of which is said to remain active in Yemen.