Yemen says 46 anti-US 'rebels' killed in siege

Yemen said 46 followers of an anti-US Muslim "extremist" cleric had been killed and 35 wounded in clashes with security forces in a siege in a mountainous area of the Arab country.

Helicopters, supporting armed forces, opened fire on various sites in the area during the siege, security sources said.

An Interior Ministry statement, carried by the official Saba news agency late on Thursday, said 43 "rebel" supporters of cleric Hussein al-Houthi had also been arrested since clashes began on June 20 when police tried to arrest Houthi, a Shi'ite Muslim leader. Saba said six more men were arrested yesterday. Security and military forces were still surrounding Houthi and a "small number of deviant elements", the ministry said.

The statement did not mention any casualties among security forces, but security sources said seven policemen were killed and five wounded in the clashes in Saada, 240 kilometres north of the capital, Sanaa.

Saba said yesterday the government had decided to send a delegation to the region to try to persuade Houthi to give himself up in order to stem the bloodshed.

One source close to Houthi told Reuters the death toll among the group was higher and put it at about 200. Government officials were not immediately available for comment.