Sana’a (Yemen), Sep 22 (DPA) Seventy-six rebels were killed and around 150 injured in clashes with government troops in the restive northwestern Yemeni province of Saada Tuesday, a military statement said.
The statement on the defence ministry’s website (www.26sep.net) said the fighting took place in al-Malahid and Munabih districts of Saada and Harf Sufian of Amran province.
The battles broke out after the rebels tried to storm military posts in those districts before dawn.
“Military units taught these elements tough lessons that inflicted enormous losses on their ranks and equipment,” the source said.
He said 76 rebels, including 26 leading figures, were killed and about 150 injured. The source did not give a toll for the military casualties.
Rebel sources were not immediately available for comment.
The reported battles took place three days after the collapse of a fragile truce designated to allow access for humanitarian aid agencies into the fighting areas.
The rebels, known as Houthis, and the government forces traded blame for breaking the ceasefire that took effect at midnight Friday and lasted only for a few hours.
This was the second truce declared by the government since the army launched its latest offensive on Houthi bases Aug 11. It is the latest flare-up in the fighting that has raged on and off since the Houthis’ revolt began in mid-2004.
On Sep 4, authorities announced a truce to allow access for humanitarian aid to civilians displaced by the fighting in Saada and Amran provinces.
The first truce collapsed three hours after it took effect, and both sides traded blame for breaking it.
Hundreds of insurgents, troops and civilians have been killed and around 150,000 people were forced to leave their villages during the past five weeks, according to unofficial estimates.
Authorities accuse the Shia group of seeking to restore the rule of the Zaydi royal family, which was toppled by a republican revolution in 1962.
The Houthis say they are in revolt against government corruption and the Yemeni alliance with the US.
