SANAA, Yemen, May 14 (UPI) -- Security forces in Yemen said Friday that two soldiers were killed during clashes with Houthi rebel fighters in the northwest province of Amran.
Houthi rebels and government forces clashed for about 30 minutes in the province of Amran. Among the dead were two soldiers and "a number" of Houthi rebels, the Yemen Post reports.
Houthi leaders said government forces provoked rebel forces when they ambushed one of their leaders.
Yemeni forces launched a scorched-earth campaign on Houthi rebels in the north of Yemen in August, though a February cease-fire was holding.
Provincial leaders told U.N. officials this week that Houthi rebels were occupying area schools in what appeared to be a violation of the cease-fire agreement. Officials said Houthi fighters had blocked off several schools in the area, displaying anti-Western banners.
Government officials tasked with overseeing the peace initiative with the Shiite rebel group said they stopped their work because of the occupation. Mohammed Abdussalam, a Houthi spokesman, said the fighters were occupying the schools to protest to imprisonment of their followers.
Houthi rebels began occupying Yemeni schools in late April, security officials said.
