YEMEN ADVANCES IN OFFENSIVE AGAINST REBELS
CAIRO ø Yemen reported advances in the drive against rebels in the
north.
Yemeni military sources reported heavy fighting as combat units reached
the last strongholds of Hussein Badruddin Al Houthi in the Saada province.
The sources said about 100 people have been killed over the last three days
amid heavy resistance by Al Houthi's forces, estimated about 3,000. In all
more than 300 people have been killed since the insurgency began on June 18.
"We will never give up, whatever our sacrifices," Yemeni President Ali
Abdullah Saleh said.
The Yemeni Defense Ministry said the military captured the chief aides
of Shi'ite cleric Hussein Badruddin Al Houthi. The ministry said the top
aides of Al Houthi were seized during a battle on July 15 in the Saada
province near the Yemeni border.
The two aides were identified as Hamdi Ali Qassim Bajir, commander of Al
Houthi's bodyguard detail, and Faisal Ahmad Al Hatfi, the spokesman for the
insurgency "Believing Youth," a movement said to be supported by Iran.
Al Hafti was trying to recruit Yemeni tribal leaders to support Al
Houthi, the Defense Ministry said.
Yemeni military officials said combat units have surrounded Al Houthi's
stronghold in Masnaa in the Maran district. They said artillery, attack
helicopters and other assets were bombing and launching rockets against the
insurgency stronghold.
The military was said to have captured about 10 of Al Houthi's positions
in Maran last week. The ministry said weapons and ammunitions were captured
from three arsenals.
Yemen has offered a $55,000 reward for information leading to the
capture of Al Houthi, a former parliamentarian. Saleh has accused Al Houthi
of being supported by unspecified foreign intelligence agencies.
"The signs have started to become clear and they will be made public,"
Saleh said. "I point my finger directly to foreign forces. He is but a tool
at the hands the foreign forces."
