Yemen seizes rebel outposts: 75 killed

"More than 75 followers of (Sheikh Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi) were killed in the fighting which went on throughout Wednesday and until Thursday night" in Saada province, where the two sides have been locked in combat since March 28, one source told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"Their bodies were found in the mountain hideouts from which they had been resisting authorities," he said.

"Dozens of troops were (also) killed or wounded, particularly when counter-terrorism units parachuted onto mountain tops overlooking the rebels' strongholds in Razamat and Wadi Nushur (Nushur Valley) on Thursday," the source said.

The sources said government forces stormed rebel positions in Razamat, Wadi Nushur and Al-Shafia, wresting control of the outposts Thursday night.

"Troops are combing the area to hunt down the leaders of the rebellion, starting with Badr Eddin al-Huthi," father of the preacher killed by the army last year and who authorities say is the rebels' spiritual leader, according to the tribal source. Government forces are also trying to track down the ground commanders of the rebels from the Faithful Youth movement, chiefly Abdullah Ayedh al-Razami, Yussef al-Madani and the preacher's brother Abdul Malak, they said.

Pro-government tribal sources said dozens of militants have been rounded up, mostly young men aged 18 to 22.

Apart from the undetermined number of government forces which fell in the clashes of the last two days, more than 180 people have now been reported killed in the fighting. Dozens more have been injured on both sides.