Yemeni military battles Shiite rebels

Government forces seized a number of bases belonging to Shiite rebels in northern Yemen following fighting that drove some 2,500 civilians from their homes, a military official said Monday.

The offensive is the third military crackdown since January against the rebels, who accuse the government of corruption and being too closely allied to the West.

In recent days, government forces seized several areas used by the rebels as bases, a military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The latest battles destroyed more than 25 houses and caused about 2,500 people to flee, the official said.

Since the military began fighting the rebels in the remote region of northern Yemen more than two months ago, nearly 300 rebels have been killed, according to military officials.

Military officials said Monday that 144 Yemeni troops have been killed since January, though security officials earlier this month put the military's casualties at 400 dead. There was no explanation for the conflicting numbers.

Tribal leaders in the region say more than 30,000 residents have been displaced by the fighting in the past several months.

The rebels are part of a Shiite Muslim group known as "the Young Faithful Believers" led by Abdel-Malek al-Hawthi, the brother of a radical cleric who had launched the uprising in northern Saada province several months before he was killed in 2004.

The government had accused the brother, Hussein Badr Eddin al-Hawthi, of sedition, forming an illegal armed group and inciting anti-American sentiment. His loyalists say authorities wanted to silence the cleric's criticisms of corruption.

A coalition of Yemeni opposition movements and human rights activists on Monday issued a joint statement expressing regret at the renewed fighting in Saada province and urging authorities to negotiate with the rebels. The statement warned against turning the crackdown in Saada into a sectarian battle between Shiites and Sunnis.