Sana’a: A Yemeni government official says clashes between troops and Shiite rebels have resumed overnight in the aftermath of a bombing near a northern Yemeni mosque where 18 worshippers died.

The official says three soldiers and four of the rebels of Abdel-Malek Al Hawthi group have been killed in clashes in Yemen's remote mountain province of Saada near the Saudi border.

Meanwhile, families on Saturday buried their beloved ones killed when a bomb rigged to motorcycle blew up after Friday prayers, added the official.

Thousands have died in a rebellion that erupted in Saada in 2004 by Muslims from the tiny Shiite Al Zaydi sect.