Yemen’s Houthi militia seized the headquarters and house of an army general linked to Sunni Islamists yesterday.

The Houthi, who are Shia Muslims, have seized most of the key state buildings in the capital Sana’a, although they have since handed control of many to the military police.

Houthi checkpoints have been set up across the city and Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar has gone into hiding after their forces took over his house and the base of the First Armoured Division, which he headed.

State-issue weaponry was loaded onto lorries and sent out of the capital, presumably bound for the Houthi strongholds in northern Yemen.

Thousands of militiamen patrolled the streets while Red Crescent staff removed corpses left to rot in the sun during a week of intense fighting between the Houthis on one side and the army and Sunni militias on the other.

Medical officials estimated the death toll from the past week at 340.

But a UN-brokered deal signed late on Sunday meant that open fighting appeared to be over.

Houthi leaders agreed to an immediate ceasefire and a consultation process among all political parties that will see a “technocratic” government appointed within a month.

President Abed Rabbo Mansour has been forced to agree to appoint advisers from across the spectrum, including Houthi leaders but also separatist factions in southern Yemen. His prime minister Mohammed Basindwa resigned earlier on Sunday.