29 rebels killed and 16 arrested

By Nasser Arrabyee/07/10/2009

A total of 29 Al Houthi rebels were killed and 16 others arrested in different places over the last 24 hours in Sa'ada north of Yemen, said the Ministry of Defense Wednesday.

Five Lorries laden with fuels and explosives were seized before reaching the hands of the rebels in Sa'ada, said a statement issued by the Ministry.

A total of 350 bags of gunpowder was found in the cargo of the lorries , which were camouflaged with fruits and vegetables.

The statement also clarified that battles continued Tuesday on in the three main frontlines of Harf Sufyan, Al Malahaid and the areas around Sa'ada city.

A group of 12 rebels of the 29 were killed in Ayan area of Harf Sufyan, the most important frontline in the south of Sa'ada province, where rebels block the main road between the capital Sana'a and their strongholds inside Sa'ada.

The statement identified five of the 12 dead rebels as “Terrorists Ali Ali Al Mawi, Adris Ali Al Mawi, Mohammed Hussein Awli, Mohesen Saleh Akel, and Ahmed Abdullah Tashan."

Four rebels were killed while digging trenches east of Al Makash, in the areas around the Sa'ada city, the statement said.

A group of 8 rebels were killed in the battles of Al Malahaid frontline, far west of Sa'ada where the rebels tried to block the highway between Yemen and Suadi Arabia.

The 8 dead rebels were identified as "the terrorists Namis Qasem Murshid, Mustafa Yahya Saleh, Dhaif Allah Ahmed Taher, Ghaleb Ali Ghalib, Hamoud Mohammed Antar, Musta Yahya Hadi, Mohammed Ahmed Hassan, and Ammar Mohammed Ahmed."

Five more rebels were killed when the security forces raided on a sleep cell in the old city of Sa'ada, late Tuesday, said Mohammed Al Kawsi, Deputy Ministry of Interior, who is supervising the special operations against the hidden rebels in the city

Al Kawsi said four rebels were arrested late in the Tuesday operations.

About 200 rebels were arrested in the old city of Sa'ada from the beginning of the war on August 10, according to a previous statement by Al Kawsi.

About 40 of them were released after being proved not involved in the armed rebellion, and 40 others were referred to prosecution for trials on charges of sabotage acts.

The Defense Ministry statement said that the army arrested 12 more rebels in different places over the last 24 hours.

And according to medical sources, the military hospital in Sana'a received about 30 injured soldiers and 20 dead bodies over the last two days.