DTN News: Saudi Arabia TODAY November 10, 2009 ~ 'Saudi Fighter Jets Using Phosphorous Bombs' Says Houthi Rebel Spokeperson

DTN News: Saudi Arabia TODAY November 10, 2009 ~ 'Saudi Fighter Jets Using Phosphorous Bombs' Says Houthi Rebel Spokeperson *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) - DUBAI, UAE - November 10, 2009: Houthi fighters in Yemen say Saudi fighter jets are using phosphorous bombs to back a deadly Yemeni government offensive against them. Houthi rebels are seen in the border area between Saudi Arabia and Yemen in this video grab from recent footage released by the rebels November 9, 2009. Saudi Arabia said it had regained control of territory seized by Yemeni rebels in an incursion last week, but the rebels denied the claim and said Yemeni villages were being bombed heavily. "Saudi combat fighter jets launched intense raids against border areas inside Yemeni territory on Sunday night," the fighters' spokesman Mohammad Abdessalam told AFP by telephone. "The Saudi military used phosphorus bombs during those night raids, burning mountainous regions," he said adding that "The Saudi air raids resumed this morning (Monday). " Saudi Army vehicles burn during clashes with Houthi rebels in the border area between Saudi Arabia and Yemen in this video grab from recent footage released by the rebels November 9, 2009. Saudi Arabia said it had regained control of territory seized by Yemeni rebels in an incursion last week, but the rebels denied the claim and said Yemeni villages were being bombed heavily. Abdessalam said that the raids targeted Malaheez, seven kilometers (3.8 miles) inside Yemen, as well as the border villages of Hassameh and Shida and several villages around Jebel (mountain) al-Dukhan straddling the border. The Saudi air force launched its deadly offensive against Houthis seven days ago, accusing the resistance Shia fighters of killing two Saudi soldiers on the border. While Riyadh claims that its offensive targeted Houthi positions on 'Saudi territory', the fighters say Yemeni villages are the main target of heavy bombings.Saudi soldiers on patrol in the southern province of Jizan, near the border with Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Saudi Arabian forces have taken control of a mountain straddling the border with Yemen and cleared it of Shiite rebels, in five days of fighting that saw three soldiers killed and 15 wounded, the assistant defense minister said on Sunday. Prince Khaled bin Sultan said another four soldiers were missing and that Saudi troops were still dealing with rebel infiltrators in other spots along the frontier. The developments comes as Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh has declared that attacks against the Houthi fighters will be intensified. The conflict between Houthi fighters and the Yemeni government began in 2004, but intensified last August when government forces stepped up the pressure against the fighters. Saudi Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz (C), assistant minister for defence and aviation, meets with Saudi soldiers in Jizan near the border with Yemen November 8, 2009. Houthi fighters say they have been defending their people against the Yemeni government that has marginalized them economically and politically.