28 Al Houthi rebels killed including leaders

By Nasser Arrabyee/29/09/2009

In continuation of the 49-day old war, 28 Al Houthi rebels were killed and several others injured in fierce battles in the areas around the city of Sa'ada north of the country, said the Defense Ministry Tuesday.

Three of those killed were field leaders and one of those injured was one of the most wanted 55 rebel leaders, the Ministry's statement said.

"The terrorist Abdullah Ali Al Kalat,known as Abu Amed, was killed with four others in the battles of Al Makash and Al Okab," said the statement.

The field leader Nasser Subhan Khatab, known as Abu Hamzah, was killed in Dammaj where Sunni extremists, Salafis, fight against Al Houthi Shiite rebels. The dead bodies of the field leader Yahya Ahmed Huseein Al Moayad and another called Abu Thar were found in Al Makash areas nearby the Sa'ada city.

The leader of rebels in Al Makash and Al Okab, Abdul Latif Hamoud Al Mahdi, number 39 of the most wanted list of 55, was injured in Al Okab.

A group of 20 rebels were killed in Jarman station areas, the statement added.

Meanwhile, a total of 44 rebels out of 127 arrested in Sa'ada city from the beginning of the war in August 10, were referred on Tuesday to the prosecution for trials in charges of carrying out sabotage acts, security sources said.


On his part, Al Houthi said his fighters killed and injured dozens of soldiers in those battles and destroyed a tank in the areas around the Sa'ada city.

The rebels leader said, in a statement sent through emails, that the government air fighters killed two women and 10-year old child in Manbah area on Monday.

He also said that the government prevented diesel and wheat from entering to Sa'ada through Barat road south east of Sa'ada.