Yemen army reports gains against Shiite rebels as truce collapses

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemen's military has inflicted "enormous losses" on Shiite rebels in the north-western Saada province after a shaky ceasefire collapsed, a military source said on Sunday. "Army and security units held off an attack by the Houthi rebels on a (military) position in al-Jaraib area, and inflicted enormous losses on the attackers with dozens of dead and injured," the source said in a statement.

The source did not give specific casualty figures, but said four rebel leaders were killed in the combat that lasted more than nine hours Saturday.

Troops also carried out a "swift attack" against rebel positions on hills overlooking the al-Safra district and Sharmat valley, where they destroyed several "dens" of the insurgents, the source said.

The Defence Ministry accused the rebels, led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and known as Houthis, of executing six women and 10 children on Saturday after they raided a village in Saada, which borders Saudi Arabia.

Fighting escalated following the collapse of a brief ceasefire ordered by the government late Friday to allow access for humanitarian relief agencies to the fighting areas.

The government blamed the rebels for breaking the truce that ended in three hours.

The rebels denied breaking the ceasefire, saying the government "was not serious" in executing it, and that it only wanted to secure passage for supplies to troops besieged by Houthis on the frontline.

Fighter jets resumed airstrikes on rebel positions in several areas in Saada Saturday, according to local sources.

Saada, some 240 kilometres north of Sana'a, has been the scene of fierce fighting between the rebels and government troops since the army launched a massive offensive on their strongholds on August 11.

Both sides claim to have caused heavy casualties over the past three weeks, but none of the claims have been independently verified because the media is denied access to the restive province.

Officials said the offensive will only end when all insurgents are taken out or they surrender.

This is the latest flare-up in the fighting that has been raging on and off since the Houthis began their revolt in mid-2004.

Authorities accuse the Shiite group of seeking to restore the rule of the Zaydi royal family, which was toppled by a republican revolution in 1962 in northern Yemen.

The Houthis say they are revolting against government corruption and the Yemeni alliance with the United States.