(Repeats to fix garble) SANAA, March 7 (Reuters) - More than 160 Shi'ite rebels have been killed in clashes with Yemeni government forces over the past two weeks, a state-run Web site reported on Wednesday, quoting a military official. The figure takes to around 250 the number of rebels officially estimated to have been killed in the sporadic but fierce clashes in the mountainous area of Saada in the north of Yemen since the beginning of 2007. "More than 160 elements of terrorism and sabotage led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi have been killed in the past two weeks," the Web site, www.26sep.net, quoted the unidentified official as saying. Houthi is the leader of a rebel group which the government says wants to install Shi'ite religious rule. A source close to the rebels said he was doubtful about the figure but did not give his own estimate. "The government forces are losing considerably every day," the source told Reuters. The Web site later said two government MiG 29 fighter aircraft burnt up during a crash landing at a base in Saada. Quoting an unnamed defence ministry source, it said the planes were involved in training and not in operations and that the pilots were not hurt. Yemeni and Arab media have in the past said MiGs were being used in strikes on the rebels. The Web site did not give a figure for deaths among soldiers. Officials in late February put this at about 105. The military official said the militants were using citizens as human shields in private farms after government forces surrounded them. About 40 unidentified bodies and a number of wounded were found in the area of the fighting, he said. President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered the army last month to crack down on Houthi and his followers. Sunni Muslims make up most of Yemen's 19 million population while about 15 percent are Shi'ite Muslims. Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the United States. Houthi's supporters are not linked to al Qaeda.
