Three rebel chiefs killed in the north: Yemen

Yemen said on Friday it had killed three rebel leaders in fighting in the north.

"Three terrorist rebel leaders met their deaths in an army operation in the Malahidh area of Saada province," a military statement said, naming the men killed on Thursday as Jarallah Mohammed Ismail, Ali Abd-Rabbo Jabal and Abdelaziz al-Uraimi.

Government forces have been waging operation "Scorched Earth" against the Zaidi rebels since August 11.

The statement said a recent deployment of elite marksmen to the conflict zones "has inflicted enormous losses" on rebel forces.

Three terrorist rebel leaders met their deaths in an army operation in the Malahidh area of Saada province

Military statement

A truce refusal

On Wednesday the leader of the rebellion threatened a war of attrition the day after the government refused his offer of a truce.

In a statement released in Sanaa, Abdel-Malek al-Huthi said that by their refusal, "the authorities have missed the chance" to end the confrontation and "they will be responsible for the consequences of the war."

Huthi threatened to implement a "much longer war of attrition" and promised the government "big surprises."

Information about the conduct of the war has been hard to verify since Northern provinces have been closed to media.

Thousands of people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced in intermittent fighting between the government forces and rebels since 2004.

U.N. agencies have launched an appeal in Geneva for $23.5 launched to help Yemen.

An offshoot of Shiite Islam, the Zaidis -- also known as Huthis -- are a minority in mainly Sunni Yemen but form the majority community in the north. They want to restore the imamate overthrown in a 1962 coup.

The authorities have missed the chance. They will be responsible for the consequences of the war.

Abdel-Malek al-Huthi, leader of the rebellion