HOUTHI rebels in Yemen captured a town south of the capital Sanaa today, where they blew up the house of a rival politician.

The Shi’ite rebels, who oppose the government and its US ally, took the town of Yarim in the morning.

They had earlier seized the house of a prominent member of the Islamist Reform Party, who was not at home, setting off firefights that left 12 people dead. The Houthis then blew up the politician’s house.

The Houthis are at sharp odds with the Reform Party and powerful Sunni tribes allied with it.

The rebels say they are demanding a bigger share of power and a change to Yemen’s political system following the 2011 protests that forced long-time leader Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office.

But despite making such stunning gains against the government — the rebels overran Sanaa last month and captured the key Red Sea port of Hodeida last week — their presence has not been overwhelmingly popular.

Thousands demonstrated in Hodeida yesterday calling for the Houthis to leave the city. Similar protests have taken place in Sanaa in the past few weeks.

Councils in Yarim and Ibb, which the Houthis don’t control fully, closed schools yesterday because of the dangerous situation on the streets.

Houthi fighters have also clashed with al-Qaida-linked gunmen, who the US, with the permission of the Yemeni government, has been targeting with drone and missile strikes — killing many civilians in the process.