Yemen denies claim of Saudi air raids on Shiite rebel bases

Aug 28, 2009, 1:08 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemen's Defence Ministry late Thursday denied a claim by Shiite rebels that Saudi fighter jets carried out air raids on their bases in the north-western Yemeni province of Saada.

Rebels issued a statement that Saudi warplanes launched two air raids on Saada's al-Malahid district and bombed their positions early Thursday in coordination with the Yemeni army.

'Those fabrications and claims are fictitious and baseless,' the Defence Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saba news agency.

It said the air-raid claims were 'naked attempts' by the rebels to accuse Saudi Arabia of involvement in the ongoing government offensive against them. The ministry said the rebels were trying to 'give reasons for their defeat through shabby justifications.'

Yemeni government forces began a massive offensive on August 11 with artillery and airstrikes against strongholds of the rebels in Saada, which is near the Saudi south-western borders.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh said Wednesday that the army would adopt new tactics in a guerilla war with rebels leading to their subsequent defeat 'within weeks.'

'We will change our tactics and military strategies in chasing the elements of sabotage and rebellion,' Saleh said in the capital Sana'a, addressing an army brigade before its deployment in Saada.

The rebellion, which began in mid-2004, is led by Shiite militants known as Houthis.

'If the fighting is with regular troops, it would have been over in the first weeks or months, but we are facing a guerrilla war,' the Yemeni leader said.

The army on Wednesday widened its offensive against rebel strongholds on mountains overlooking Yemeni borders with Saudi Arabia, blasting new rebel bases with airstrikes.

Fighter jets shelled rebel positions in areas of Rahwa, al-Madraj, and al-Anad of Saada, 'inflicting huge losses in their ranks.'

Scores of insurgents, civilians and troops have been killed in the past two weeks. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their villages.

The rebels belong to the outlawed al-Houthi group, led by Abdul- Malik al-Houthi. They say they are revolting against the government corruption and its alliance with the United States.

Authorities accuse the rebels of seeking to restore the rule of the Zaydi royal family, known as imams, who were toppled by a republican revolution in 1962 in northern Yemen.