Government forces reported more than 100 rebels killed in fighting Sunday, among them two Shiite Muslim leaders, as battles in north Yemen intensified two days after the government urged a ceasefire. Yemen, an impoverished state of some 23 million people on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is battling Al-Qaeda militants and secessionist discontent in the south, as well as the rebellion in the mountainous north bordering Saudi Arabia. “There has been a discovery of 100 bodies belonging to Houthi rebels on the sides of the roads outside Haraf Sufyian,” according to a government statement released to the media. “It seems these are members who had attempted to escape from the fierce fighting in Sufyan city and were chased down.” The government said the two rebel leaders, named as Mohsen Hadi Al-Qaoud and Saleh Jarman, were killed in the Haraf Sufyan area of Amran province and that others were arrested. The rebels, referred to by the government as Houthis after the tribal name of their leader, did not confirm the report. The rebels said in a statement Yemeni planes bombed a commercial district near Saada city. A military source said the raid targeted a petrol station used to supply the rebels. On Friday the government reiterated ceasefire conditions to the rebels, who rejected the proposal last week.
