Houthi fighters say that they have managed to repulse an attack which was launched by the Saudi Arabian army into northern Yemen.

According to Lebanon’s Al-Manar television network, Houthi fighters said in a statement that they repulsed Saudi Arabia’s attack in the Jebel Dhar al-Hamar region and the villages around it on Friday.

According to the Houthis, Saudi fighters also pounded various areas in northern Yemen four times.

The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters. It intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Sa’ada.

Saudi forces began fighting with Yemeni Shia resistance fighters and bombing their positions on November 4, 2009 after accusing the fighters of killing Saudi border guards.

Sana’a claims the fighters are seeking to revive the imamate form of government that ceased in Yemen in 1962.

The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of large-scale corruption, violation of civil rights, and the economic and political marginalization of their group because of religious belief.

Houthi fighters say that Riyadh regularly strikes Yemeni villages and indiscriminately targets civilians. According to the fighters, Saudis are using toxic materials, including white phosphorus bombs, against civilians in northern Yemen.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada and take refuge in overcrowded camps.

Houthi fighters in Yemen say they have managed to capture three military bases after fierce fighting with the government forces near the northern city of Sa’ada.

The fighters released a statement on Monday, saying that they had seized the military bases after a long battle with Yemeni forces, prompting them to launch attacks against civilians in the area.

According to the report, Yemeni forces targeted and destroyed several residential homes, mosques and historical buildings.

Meanwhile, Yemeni military sources claimed that they killed a dozen fighters during the clashes in the day. They said eight soldiers were also killed in the fighting.

Yemen launched its Operation Scorched Earth against the Shias in the countrys northern provinces in August 2009.

The government accuses the Houthis of violating the terms of a ceasefire in 2009 by taking foreign visitors hostage. The fighters deny the charges, saying they seek to put an end the government’s discriminatory policies against Shia minorities.

The attacks have so far killed scores of civilians and displaced thousands of others.

The Houthi fighters in Yemen say Saudi warplanes have carried out several airstrikes on the country’s beleaguered northern areas, leaving a child dead.

According to the fighters, the warplanes targeted more than 20 villages in Sa’ada province on Friday.

The fighters also reported that they have repelled an incursion by Saudi troops in an area near the border.

Saudi Arabia joined the Yemeni government’s campaign of cracking down on the Houthi fighters on November 3. Sana’a launched Operation Scorched Earth in August 2009, claiming that the fighters had breached the terms of a ceasefire by taking foreign tourists hostage.

The Houthis, however, deny the charges accusing the Yemeni government of violation of their civil rights, political, economic and religious marginalization as well as large-scale corruption.

Meanwhile, a Yemeni government source claimed that eleven fighters were killed in clashes with the country’s military.

The Source added that a number of “others were wounded in widespread combing operations and strikes by military and security units on Thursday against gatherings of Houthis,” Reuters reported on Friday.

Another unnamed source also claimed that Yemeni forces destroyed what he called a “terrorist den” in the northern Sa’ada region on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Amid the US and Saudi jet fighters massacre of civilians in northern parts of Yemen, Iran slams the use of military action as the solution to the ongoing conflict in the war-stricken Arab country.

“Iran is unhappy with the ongoing situation in Yemen. It is the murdering of Muslim brothers,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast told reporters at his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

He criticized the killing of innocent people who have nothing to do with the military.

“Military actions against civilian people are inhumane,” he said.

The spokesman asserted that the ongoing conflict in Yemen would be settled should the sides hold negotiations as soon as possible and foreign forces stop their interference in the country’s internal affairs.

Yemen’s Houthi fighters in the northern part of the country say US fighter jets have bombed their region in several occasions, claiming the lives of civilians in their air raids. The Houthis say the US Air Force had taken the northwestern province of Sa’ada under about 30 air assaults.

So far, the US officials have categorically denied any direct involvement in the air strikes on Houthi fighters, alleging they have only targeted growing al-Qaeda training camps, mostly located in southern parts of the Persian Gulf state.

The New York Times on Saturday reported that Yemeni government benefited from US military equipment and intelligence support under the pretext of fighting “al-Qaeda” although the attacks have mostly killed civilians.

An ABC report said that President Barack Obama signed the order for the military strike on Yemen.

“Upon the orders of Obama, the military warplanes on Thursday blanketed two camps in the North of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, claiming there were “an imminent attack against a US asset was being planned,” ABC News quoted anonymous administration officials as saying on Friday.

The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Sa’ada.

The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violation of their civil rights, political, economic and religious marginalization as well as large-scale corruption.

The Saudi air force has also been involved the conflict by launching its own operations against Shia resistance fighters.

The United Nations, which according to its charter is set up “to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace,” has failed to adopt any concrete measures to help end the bloody war.

At least 13 civilians have lost their lives in a series of air strikes by Saudi military air planes along the border between Yemen and the oil-rich kingdom, Houthi fighters say.

The Saudi Air Force continued to bomb along the Yemeni-Saudi border, including the Jebel al-Dukhan, Jebel al-Rumayh, Jebel al-Madoud, al-Jabiri as well as other border towns.

More than 70 air strikes were conducted by Saudi warplanes over the past 24 hours. The beleaguered regions were struck by around 165 air-to-surface missiles. Some thirteen civilians were killed and scores of others sustained wounds in the air raids, according to the Houthis.

The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters but it intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched ‘Operation Scorched Earth’ in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Sa’ada.

The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violation of their civil rights, political, economic and religious marginalization as well as large-scale corruption.

The Saudi and US air forces have further complicated the conflict by launching their own operations against Shia resistance fighters.

Houthi fighters say that Riyadh and Washington pound their positions and that Saudi forces strike Yemeni villages and indiscriminately target civilians. According to the fighters, Saudis use toxic materials, including white phosphorus bombs, against civilians in northern Yemen.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada and take refuge at overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.

Several people have reportedly been killed in a series of airstrikes by unknown warplanes in the northern Yemeni region of Sa’ada.

The residence of the mayor of Sa’ada was damaged in the air raid.

Yemen’s Houthi fighters accuse the United States and neighboring Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes, saying the attacks target only civilians in villages in the northern regions of the country.

They also say they have foiled several attempts by the Saudi ground troops who wanted to penetrate into northern Yemen over the past weeks.

Human rights groups and international aid agencies have repeatedly warned about what they have described as the dire humanitarian situation in northern Yemen.

The Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth against the Houthis in August in a bid to quell the fighters who accuse the Sunni-dominated Sana’a government of repression and discrimination against the country’s Shia minority.

Saudi Arabia joined the offensive following alleged conflicts with Houthi fighters near its border with Yemen, pressing heavy artillery attacks and air raids against the fighters.

At least 120 Houthis were killed and 44 others sustained injuries on Wednesday as the US fighter jets took part in airstrikes in Sa’ada.

The US military is reportedly going ahead with air raids on Sa’ada as well as the northern regions of Amran and Hajjah which have already been the target of stepped up attacks by the Saudi and Yemeni forces.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada during off and on conflicts between the army and the Houthis since 2004.

The Islamic Republic of Iran says that no state has the right to interfere in Yemen’s internal affairs as the country’s crisis in the north has been claiming the lives many people.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, in a joint press conference with his Sudanese counterpart Deng Alor in Khartoum, said that all countries should respect territorial integrity of Yemen.

The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters. The conflict intensified in August when Yemen’s army launched Operation Scorched Earth against Sa’ada.

The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violation of their civil rights, political, economic and religious marginalization as well as of large-scale corruption.

The Saudi air force has further complicated the conflict during the past month by launching its own operations against the Shia resistance fighters.

Saudi Arabia joined the operation after it alleged attacks by Yemeni fighters on its border guards.

The Houthi fighters say that Riyadh has been allowing Yemeni government troops to pound their positions and Saudi forces strike Yemeni village and indiscriminately target civilians there. According to the fighters, Saudis are using toxic materials including white phosphorous bombs against civilians in north Yemen.

But the fighting has incurred headaches for the Kingdom who has lost soldiers as well as military vehicles and ammunitions amid a strong resistance from the Houthi fighters.

Iranian officials have admonished the Saudi government for entering the Yemen conflict.

Mottaki also said that his county is trying to restore peace and security in Yemen, adding the Tehran- Sana’a relation is cordial.

The Iranian top diplomat arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday to discuss issues of mutual interests with Sudanese officials.

Houthi fighters say they have dismantled a Saudi army regiment, killed several soldiers destroyed an army tank as the regiment attempted to cross the border into northern Yemen.

The Saudi military’s push towards Mount Mamdouh failed, the Houthis said on Tuesday, adding that the Saudi army received the heavy blow after a string of hour-long clashes.

The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters. Relative peace had returned to the region until August 11, when the Yemeni army launched a major offensive, dubbed Operation Scorched Earth, against Sa’ada.

The government claims that the fighters, who are named after their leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the Shia imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 military coup.

The Houthis, however, say they are defending their people’s civil rights, which the government has undermined under pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists.

The Saudi Arabian government has added to the problem by launching its own offensive against northern Yemen.

While Riyadh insists that it is targeting Houthi positions on ‘Saudi territory’, the fighters say Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemeni villages with chemical weapons and causing the death of Shia civilians.

As Sana’a does not allow independent media into the conflict zone, there are no clear estimates available as to how many people have been killed in the Shia province of Sa’ada since 2004 or in the recent wave of violence.

According to UN estimates, however, during the past five years, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada to take refuge in overcrowded camps set up by the international body.

Saudi King Abdullah has reportedly signed a state decree rewarding families of the soldiers killed in raids on Houthi resistance fighters in Yemen.

The Saudi king’s latest directive requires the government to award a medal of honor and a sum of USD 266,000 to each family of soldiers killed in cross-border assaults against the Houthi fighters, IRNA reported.

The edict will also allow the recruitment of the immediate male relatives of every fallen soldier in the kingdom’s army.

The Saudis joined an assault on the Yemeni group on November 4 over allegations that Houthis killed a Saudi border patrol. The kingdom has pledged to assist the Yemeni government in uprooting the fighters through an intensified blitz and shelling.

Saudi Arabia’s move came after the Yemeni government launched its ‘Operation Scorched Earth’ to crush the Houthi resistance in the mountainous north.

The offensive has so far left thousands of civilians displaced and scores of others killed.

Jordanian commandos have recently joined the state-led and Saudi-aided offensives against the Houthi fighters in northwestern Yemen, reports say.

The Arab-language daily Sada-Najdhejaz reported on Saturday that the commandos, enlisted with the Jordanian military’s crack forces, had joined the fight in the northern Mount Al-Dukhan.

The military contribution was enabled by Saudi Arabia, which received the forces at its Tabuk Military Base a few days ago before airlifting them to the northern Yemeni territories, the newspaper added.

The auxiliary units reportedly incurred heavy losses in their struggle against the Houthi fighters.

Foreign troops joined hands with Sana’a after Yemeni forces failed to produce result through Operation Scorched Earth, which was launched in August.

This is while sources say that the Yemeni troops are divided over the conflict, with some not having a motive to fight the Houthis. According to the sources a large number of soldiers in the Yemeni military are Zaidi Shias, hence sympathetic toward the Houthis.

The Houthi fighters have reportedly seized control of three mountains in a move that could give them notable strategic upper hand.

The fighters conquered Mounts Al-Dukhan, Al-Ramih and Al-Doud on Saturday, the Yemeni news outlet Shamar Press reported.

The fighters’ new positions will allow them to take the Saudi and Yemeni movements under scrutiny and afford visibility over several kilometers farther.

Sana’a has launched a military offensive codenamed Operation Scorched Earth against the Houthi fighters, accusing them of violating the terms of a ceasefire by taking foreign tourists hostage.

The Houthis, however, reject the allegations saying they only seek to put an end to the Yemeni government’s discriminatory policies against Shias.

The Saudis have recently joined Yemen’s armed campaign against the country’s Shia minority. Saudi Arabia’s army has been pounding Houthi positions for over two weeks, charging that the fighters had attacked one of its border checkpoints.

The Houthis, however, have firmly rejected the allegations, saying that they are fighting other battlefields and are not interested in opening another front.

According to the fighters, Riyadh has stepped up the offensive shelling northern villages using illegal phosphorous bombs, which are capable of inflicting severe burns.

The Yemeni agency said the anti-Shia fight is recently joined by auxiliary forces outfitted with advanced equipment.

Houthi fighters say Saudi Arabia fired scores of missiles on Yemeni villages during over a dozen overnight airstrikes.

More than 145 missiles have been shot at Yemini towns in over 15 separate attacks on areas near the border with Saudi Arabia, the Muslim movement said on Thursday.

Saudi forces have been carrying out attacks on Yemen’s Houthis since early November.

The Saudi Defense Ministry has said it will keep up its air strikes until the Houthis retreat from the border between the two countries.

Riyadh has also imposed a naval blockade on northern Yemen’s Red Sea coast, saying the siege is to stop weapons from reaching the anti-government fighters.

The Houthis took arms against the Sana’a rule in 2004 in protest at the Sunni-dominated government’s repression and discrimination against the Shia minority in Yemen.

The fighters have repeatedly accused Saudi Arabia of collaborating with the Yemeni government in its military crackdown on the opposition movement based in the north of the improvised Arab country.

The United States has also joined the conflict by signing a military agreement under which it will provide Sana’a forces with intelligence and training to quell the Houthis.

Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of employing al-Qaeda mercenaries and terrorists to help the army with its ongoing offensive against the Shia fighters.

The Operation Scorched Earth which began in August is believed to have forced over 55,000 Yemenis to leave their houses.

Saudi Arabia has imposed a naval blockade on northern Yemen’s Red Sea coast amid its offensive on Houthi fighters in the mountainous region.

A Saudi government adviser said on Wednesday that the blockade was imposed to stop weapons from reaching the fighters, Reuters reported.

The adviser said earlier that Saudi warships were ordered to search suspicious ships sailing near northern Yemen.

Last week, Saudi Arabia launched its offensive against Muslim fighters who accuse the kingdom of supporting the Yemeni government in its crackdown on them.

The government launched Operation Scorched Earth in August in an effort to crush the Houthis whom it accuses of seeking to restore an imamate that was overthrown in 1962.

The Houthis dismiss the accusations saying they are seeking to end what they call the government’s discriminatory policies against them.

More than forty Yemeni Muslim fighters have been killed in the fresh Saudi Arabia’s air attacks on the northern Yemen fighters holding territory in the border region.

The fighters were killed in the remote mountainous regions of Malahit and Maran in Saada province.

The Saudi military said the attacks were in response to an earlier confrontation between Yemeni Houthi fighters and Saudi security forces that killed two Saudi security men.

Houthi fighters on November 3 attacked a border patrol on the brink of Yemen-Saudi Arabia border, killing two Saudi guards and wounding 10 others. Six Saudi border guard vehicles were also destroyed in the attack.

The combatants had warned a day earlier that they would retaliate against Saudi Arabia after accusing Riyadh of permitting Yemeni government troops to launch attacks against them from a Saudi security installation in Jabal al-Dukhan.

The conflict between the Houthi fighters and the Yemeni government began in 2004, but intensified last August when government forces stepped up the pressure against the fighters.

Sana’a launched a military offensive codenamed Operation Scorched Earth against the Houthi fighters who say they have been defending their people against the government. Houthis say Sana’a has been marginalizing them economically and politically.

The offensive has killed thousands of people and displaced at least tens of thousands, according to the Red Cross and United Nations.

Houthi fighters in Yemen claim they have inflicted heavy defeat on army forces in the outskirts of the northern city of Sa’ada as the government continues its offensive against the fighters.

In a statement released Sunday, the fighters said they have seized a government military camp in Sa’daa and left several soldiers dead and many more wounded in clashes near the city.

The fighters have also provided footage of a number of government forces captured in the area.

According to the statement, the army warplanes later bombed areas in Saqayn and Haydan district, in Sa’ada.

In another operation on Harf Sufyan in Amran province, the government lost many forces and had to withdraw from the area, Houtis said.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of others were displaced since the government launched ‘Operation Scorched Earth’ against the fighters on August 11.

The government has vowed to continue fighting the Houthis even for another five or six more years.