SANAA, 6 February 2007 — Forty-two army and police troops have been killed since clashes broke out again with rebel fighters in the northern Yemeni province of Saada.
The head of the National Security Agency, Ali Muhammad Al-Anessi, told the Shoura Council, the upper chamber of Parliament, that the deaths resulted from attacks by followers of rebel leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi on military posts in Saada.
Houthi and scores of his backers had been in a standoff with army forces in Saada, some 230 kmnorth of Sanaa, since armed confrontations between the two sides renewed in late December.
Anessi, who is also the secretary of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, said the military deaths included officers, but he did not give a breakdown. The Yemeni official said the rebels had purchased a “huge quantity of light, medium and heavy weapons.”
He added that they had built fortified locations in remote areas of Saada in preparation for a battle with the army.
Authorities in Sanaa sent last week hundreds of army troops backed by tanks and artillery to Saada to launch a major onslaught on the rebels if the rebels do not surrender.
President Saleh has reportedly put off the major attack after tribal and religious figures intervened and called for a peaceful settlement.
Last week, Saleh warned the rebels they could face a military campaign if they do not lay down their arms.
Several districts in Saada, which borders Saudi Arabia, were scenes of bloody clashes since violence reappeared on Dec. 27.
Officials have accused Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, a son of prominent Shiite leader Badruddin Al-Houthi, of leading remnants of the outlawed Believing Youth group, which was established by his elder brother Hussein Al-Houthi in 2004.
Well-armed Houthis have repeatedly involved in bloody confrontations with government forces in Saada since their slain leader Hussein declared a rebellion early in 2004.
