SANAA, 23 August 2004 — Soldiers stormed the home of a rebel preacher in northern Yemen yesterday and detained 200 of his followers in the surrounding area, military sources said.

But the rebel leader was believed to be in a pocket of resistance near the border, the military added.

The army launched an assault on the villages of Al-Jamima, Al-Kuaif and Al-Safer in the rugged northern Maran mountains as part of a campaign to catch Sheikh Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi and his followers.

The soldiers stormed the preacher’s home in Al-Jamima, they said, adding that a total of 200 Houthi followers were detained in the three villages. Witnesses said that Houthi was not at home during the operation.

The military sources said army forces were engaged in clashes with pockets of resistance in Maran’s Shaab Salman area where the fugitive preacher was believed to have sought refuge.

Houthi’s fate has been unknown since Yemeni authorities announced on Aug. 7 the end of major operations in the military offensive to crush his rebellion.

The fresh onslaught came after the failure of efforts to broker the surrender of Houthi and his estimated 3,000 armed supporters.

Yemen’s deputy army chief claimed last week that the troops have tightened the noose on the rebel preacher and his supporters.

“Sheikh Badruddin Al-Houthi and whoever is still with him are living their last breath after the noose has been tightened on them,” warned Maj. Gen. Ali Mohammad Salah.

The clashes between the army and Houthi’s supporters have left nearly 400 people dead since the rebellion erupted on June 18. The full toll could be higher as the army has given few details of its own losses.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh, quoted by the SABA news agency, said the army had “suffered a number of martyred and wounded for the sake of the security and stability of the nation.”

Saleh claimed that Al-Houthi “only represents himself”, said the aim of the military assault to crush the rebellion was “to end extremism”.

The authorities have offered a 10-million-riyal ($55,000) reward for information leading to Houthi’s capture.

Yemeni officials have accused Houthi and his supporters of being “foreign agents” seeking to foment sectarian strife, but Houthi said the conflict was a result of his anti-US positions.

A former MP from the Zaidi community, Houthi heads the Believing Youth outfit, formed in 1997 as a breakaway from the Islamist movement Al-Haq.