More than 40 rebels killed

By Nasser Arrabyee / 03/10/2009

A total of 40 rebels were killed and many others injured and arrested during the last 24 hours in different places of the three main frontlines of Sa'ada war between Al Houthi rebels and government troops, a military statement said Saturday.

A group of 30 rebels were killed including five field leaders in Al makash and Tho Sulaiman areas around the Sa'ada city, said the statement.

The statement identified three of the five dead field leaders as Ali Mohammed Kaed Habash, Yahya Mohammed kaed Habash, and Ali Kutaish Al Hasani.

A group of 10 rebels were killed in fierce battles between the armed tribesmen and the rebels who tried to turn the citizens farms into ditches and trenches in Al Ghalah area.

From their side, the rebels pounded with artillery on some zones of the city of Sa'ada killing two people and injuring seven others, local sources in the city said. The sources mentioned those who were killed and injured in that bombardment by names.

The rebels also destroyed a total of 15 houses and two mosques in an artillery shell on area of Bakem, far north of the city of Sa'ada, where tribesmen fight with troops against the rebels, said independent local and military sources.

The owners of the houses were mentioned by names, and the two destroyed mosques were called Al Othman mosque and Al Haidar mosque.

A fighter jet crashed Friday over the mountains of the main frontline of Al Malahaid, west of Sa'ada, which is the first air loss in the 53-day old war that focused on the aerial attacks from the beginning.

The rebels said that they downed it while the army said it collided with a mountain after a technical fault happened to it.