SANAA: The army kept up its offensive against Shiite rebels in northern Yemen on two fronts on Monday, military commanders said, after reporting that 58 rebels and 10 soldiers were killed the previous day.
“The bombing and air raids continue” against the rebel strongholds of Saada region and Harf Sufyan in Omran province, some 70 km of the capital, a military commander told AFP.
The commander who requested anonymity declined to give any indication of the casualty toll for Monday’s fighting.
Other military commanders, meanwhile, said that heavy fighting on Sunday resulted in the deaths of 58 Shiite Zaidi rebels and 10 soldiers. The troops, along with 15 of the rebels, were killed in Harf Sufyan, one commander said, as government forces said they took control of certain positions in the region on Sunday while losing others to the rebels.
Local sources in Saada said jet fighters struck the northern area of Marran for the third consecutive day, after killing 24 rebels on Sunday. The army also killed 17 rebels near Al-Iqal, a suburb of the city of Saada — the center of the region of the same name — and a launchpad for rebel attacks, a military commander said.
Rebels, meanwhile, attacked the house of the governor of Saada, Hassan Manaa, but were confronted by his guards who killed two of the assailants, another military source said.
