Shiite rebels holed up in a north-western Yemeni volatile region have captured 228 soldiers and tribesmen loyal to the government during a battle to take over an army position last week, the country's Supreme Security Committee confirmed, dpa reported.
The rebels, known as Houthis after the family of their leader, besieged the al-Za'ala army post in Harf Sufian district of Amran province for two moths before they seized it on July 26, the committee said in a statement carried by state media late on Friday.
It said 12 soldiers were killed and 55 others injured during the battle with the Houthis for the strategic army position - which overlooks a main highway to the capital Sana'a.
The committee said the rebels "kidnapped" a total of 228 army personnel and followers of a tribal chief and member of the Parliament Sheikh Sagheer Bin Aziz, who is loyal to the government.
Tribal sources have separately told the German Press Agency dpa that around 70 troops were captured by the Houthi insurgents during the clashes in al-Za'ala.
This was the bloodiest confrontation between the rebels and government troops since the two sides declared the end of fighting in the five-year conflict in the north-west of the Arab country in February.
On Saturday, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on the rebels to abide by the six terms set out by the government as conditions to end the military hostilities, saying that his government would stick to peaceful solution to the conflict.
The government's six conditions for peace include the end of hostilities by the insurgents; their withdrawal from all districts and mountainous positions; and the surrender of military hardware seized from the army.
"The Houthis have been violating the six-terms agreement since February, and the government is committed to peace," Saleh said during university graduation ceremony in Sana'a.
"Our choice is peace, and the Houthis' choice is war," he said. Members of the Houthi group have battled the Yemeni government forces for around five years since mid-2004 in Saada, where they control strategic heights overlooking the Saudi border.