SANAA, Yemen, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Fighting between government forces and rebels led by an anti-U.S. cleric claimed the lives of 40 people in the past two days in north Yemen.
Security sources said fighting raged in the past 48 hours with the followers of Hussein Badreddine al-Houthy in several villages in the province of Saada near the Yemeni-Saudi border, some 245 kilometers (150 miles) north of Sanaa.
"At least 10 troops were killed and 46 others were wounded in clashes that erupted during army raids on rebel hideouts and reinforcements in Jebel Salman in the past two days," the sources said.
They said 30 gunmen commanded by Abdullah Aida al-Razami, a senior aide of al-Houthy, were also killed in the latest battles.
The Yemeni authorities had announced early last month major military operations were halted in the region after al-Houthy's main hideouts in a rugged mountainous area were overrun.
The effort to defeat al-Houthy has been raging since June and claimed the lives of hundreds of people from both sides.
Authorities accuse al-Houthy of inciting violence and terrorism against Western targets, especially American, in Yemen.
