At least 10 soldiers and eight gunmen have been killed in recent clashes between security forces and rebels in northern Yemen, officials said on Thursday.

The fight broke out on Monday when a truck carrying arms and ammunition was discovered and stopped at a check point in Saada Province, about 300 km north of Sanaa.

The gunmen, who were believed to be followers of the slain Shiite cleric Hussein al-Houthi, fired at the soldiers who ordered them to get off. The soldiers fired back as the rebels attempted to flee.

The clashes lasted for days and the rebels are being besieged in a mountainous area, officials said.

After Houthi, who had been preaching Islamic rule in the mainly-Sunni Arab state and supporting the fight against the United States and Israel, was killed by Yemeni security forces in 2004, his followers turned to Al-Houthi's father, Badruddin al-Houthi.

The government of Yemen has been clamping down on the rebels since Sanaa allied itself with the United States in the war on terrorism. Hundreds of rebels and nearly 100 government soldiers have been killed in the fight.

In September, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced an amnesty for al-Houthi loyalists.

Source: Xinhua