Yemeni rebels 'heavily shelled'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/8499217.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Airstrikes and artillery bombardment of Houthi rebels in northern Yemen have killed at least 14 rebels, according to a statement on the group's website.

The rebels said there were women and children among the dead.

Earlier the Yemeni government had claimed a number of the group's leaders were killed in the attack on the stronghold of Saada.

Yemen has rejected a ceasefire overture from the rebels, saying they have yet to withdraw totally from Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis said Saudi Arabian artillery batteries fired more than 620 shells at rebel positions, news agency AFP reported.

Snipers

The Zaidi Shia rebels, known as Houthis after the family name of their leader, accuse Saudi Arabia of aiding Yemen in suppressing them.

The rebels invaded Saudi Arabia in November and took control of a small mountainous border region.

Some 133 Saudi troops died pushing the rebels back over the border.

On 25 January rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi offered to withdraw all his forces in return for a ceasefire, but deputy Saudi defence minister Prince Khalid bin Sultan said his troops were still coming under fire from snipers left behind by the retreating Houthi forces.

The Yemeni government then rejected a peace deal from the Houthis saying they were not convinced it was a serious capitulation.

The UN refugee agency says 250,000 Yemenis have been displaced by fighting in the region over the past five years.

Houthi rebels from the minority Shia Zaidi sect based in the north-western Saada district have been battling the government since 2004.