Yemen kills at least 17 rebels in Saada: report

Yemeni security forces have killed at least 17 Shiite rebels in clashes across the northern province of Saada, a military-run website reported Wednesday.

According to the report, five rebels holed up in a hideout in Razeh district were killed when the Yemeni forces raided the site.

Meanwhile, rebel leader Abu Badr was killed along with some of his companions when security forces targeted their vehicle on al- Jradat road, the report said, without giving the overall number of fatalities.

A rebel identified as Yusuf al-Fishi along with nine others was killed in clashes in Heidan district, also in Saada, said the report.

Another leader, Ahmed al-Wahdi, was killed, according to the report. Yet, it did not give further details on where and how he was killed.

The clashes came three days after Sanaa said it will approve a ceasefire with Shiite rebels, known as the Houthis, in the north if they comply with six peace conditions set earlier by the government.

On Saturday, leader of Yemeni rebels Abdel Malik al-Houthi renewed intention to accept the government conditions as long as Sanaa stops its military operation against their posts.

The Yemeni government insists that the army offensive against the rebels' hideouts would never stop until the rebels commit to six conditions.

The conditions include full withdrawal of rebel forces from all districts they occupied and removal of all road blocks, coming down from their hideouts at the mountains, returning of all military and public equipment seized during battles, releasing of detained military personnel and kidnapped civilians and abiding by the Yemeni constitution and law.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has come up with a new condition, calling on the rebels to stop infiltrating into neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni army launched an all-out offensive dubbed "Operation Scorched Earth" on Aug. 11 against Houthi rebels, which is the sixth of its kind since 2004.

Source: Xinhua