SANAA, Yemen, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Yemen announced Friday the end of a three-month military action in the north, and the death of rebel cleric Hussein Badreddine al-Houthy.
Statements issued by the ministries of defense and interior confirmed that al-Houthy and his brother Ibrahim were killed when army troops attacked their hideout in the region of Shaab Salman in Saada province near the Saudi border.
"We declare the end of military operations for crushing definitively the rebellion led by Hussein Badreddine al-Houthy and his followers," one statement said.
It said all rebel hideouts had been cleared after more than three months of heavy fighting which claimed the lives of hundreds of people.
A military source told UPI earlier Friday that al-Houthy's body was found in a hideout in Shaab Salman that had been stormed by government troops a few days ago. He said DNA tests also confirmed the identity of al-Houthy's brother Ibrahim.
The statement said Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh had formed a ministerial committee to assess the damage caused by the fighting in Saada, in order to compensate residents.
This is not the first time Yemeni authorities have declared the end of the war against al-Houthy. The army announced in August it had crushed the rebellion, but fighting soon renewed on a fiercer scale.
