Sana'a has laid down ceasefire conditions which the Houthis have rejected [Reuters]
Sana'a has laid down ceasefire conditions which the Houthis have rejected [Reuters]
The deaths in fighting in Amran province in the northern mountains on Sunday included two commanders, they reported.
More than 100 Zaidi Shia fighters have been killed by government forces in the north of Yemen after fierce battles to recapture a town, government officials have said.
"There has been a discovery of 100 bodies belonging to Houthi rebels on the sides of the roads outside Haraf Sufyan," government statement said.
"It seems these are members who had attempted to escape from the fierce fighting in Sufyan city and were chased down."
Ceasefire terms
The two commanders were named as Mohsen Saleh Hadi Gawd and Salah Jorman.
Zaidi fighters, who are also referred to as Houthis after their leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, have been fighting a campaign for independence in the north for the past five years.
Sana'a launched Operation Scorched Earth against the Houthis two weeks ago in an attempt to end the insurgency.
Fighting began in the northern Saada province, which borders Saudi Arabia, and spread to Amran province.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Friday reaffirmed six conditions for a ceasefire, which includes withdrawal from the mountainous region and return of military hardware.
Public 'misled'
He warned that the full capabilities of the government would be used against Houthis if a ceasefire was not agreed.
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi rejected the terms, saying the government was seeking to "mislead the public opinion".
The Houthis or Zaidi, an offshoot of Shia Islam, are the majority group in the north of Yemen but a minority nationwide and aim to re-establish the autonomous rule they held before a coup in 1962.
Thousands of people have been killed since the conflict began in 2004.
More than 35,000 people have been displaced, the UN has said.
Yemeni government officials reported that Yemeni armed forces have killed over 100 Zaidi Shia rebel fighters following a battle to capture a town in the country's north.

In a statement, the government said that "the bodies of more than 100 rebels have been recovered from the roadside outside the town of Harf Sufyan. It seems that the bodies were those of rebels who were trying to flee the town during a mopping-up operation over the past two days." The statement also said that two commanders, Mohsen Saleh Hadi Gawd and Salah Jorman, were identified among the dead.

The government statement said the Yemeni forces "totally purged the town of rebel elements in the past two days, forcing the rebels to surrender or flee."

The Zaidi insurgent group, also known as Houthis, have been fighting for northern independence for the past half decade. Two weeks ago, the Yemeni government started Operation Scorched Earth to try to 
exterminate the insurgents.

Harf Sufyan is a town in Yemen's northern mountain range. It is about seventy kilometres north of Sana'a, the country's capital.