- SAANA: A rebel group that has fought the national army in northern Yemen for more than five years released 178 captured soldiers on Tuesday, a cease-fire monitoring committee said.
"The rebels released 178 military men today," a source in the government committee monitoring a cease-fire with the rebels said.
The freed soldiers were handed over to government representatives in the northwestern province of Saada, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Yemen's government and the rebels reached a peace agreement on Feb. 11, ending fighting that has raged on and off since mid-2004.
Rebels claim discrimination by the majority population in Yemen.