Sanaa (Yemen), Oct 19 (IANS) Eighteen Shia rebels were killed in fighting with the army in northern Yemen Sunday, media reports said.
Seven insurgents were killed in clashes in Bart triangle, Wadi Ablah and Thu Sulaiman areas of northern Saada province, while five others were killed in the mountainous Harf Sufian region, Xinhua reported quoting the SABA news agency.

Five more militants were killed while they were trying to block a road in Saada.

The army has seized huge quantities of arms and ammunition in the operation, SABA said quoting an unnamed military official.

The Scorched Earth operation launched by the army against Shia insurgents entered its third month Oct 11.

The Yemeni government launched the operation to smash the rebellion which it says aims to revive a clerical system of rule known as Zaidi Imamate that was overthrown in 1962 by a coup that resulted in an eight-year-long civil war.