Riyadh/Sana'a: Saudi air force and artillery pounded Yemeni rebel hideouts to push the rebels away from its southwestern border and stop the war spilling into its territory, a Saudi security source said on Monday.
The source said Saudi forces also detained scores of rebels during the military operation in the strategic Jabal Dukhan border area on Sunday.
The rebels said on their website yesterday that the Saudi military had widened the scope of its air offensive, carrying out repeated air strikes as well as artillery attacks on the outskirts of Saada city, the capital of their mountainous stronghold Sa'ada province.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz yesterday was quoted as saying that a link between Al Qaida and the Al Houthi rebels was possible.
"It cannot be ruled out that there are contacts or coordination between them," Prince Nayef said, according to the Saudi-based Asharq Al Awsat newspaper.
Saudi media carry frequent reports of an Al Qaida presence among the Al Houthis and echo Sanaa's claim that Iran backs the rebels.
Al Houthis belong to the minority Zaidi sect and complain of social, economic and religious marginalisation by Sana'a, but both the rebels and the Yemeni government deny their aims are sectarian.
On Sunday, Al Houthis said they had thwarted an attempt by the Saudi military to enter Yemen by land, inflicting "heavy losses" and forcing them to abandon a number of vehicles and weapons, according to a statement on their website.
