SANAA, July 5: Thirty-five followers of an extremist Yemeni preacher holed up in a mountainous northern region have been killed and 60 wounded in fierce clashes with the army since late Sunday, military sources said on Monday.

At least 166 people were killed in the fighting between supporters of Hussein Badr Eddin al-Huthi and government forces which erupted on June 18 in Saada province, near the Saudi border.

The fatalities include 41 soldiers. That number is expected to rise following the latest bout of fighting, according to the military sources at the scene. Clashes were still raging on Monday in Maran, where the noose was tightening around Mr Huthi and his supporters, said the sources, reached by telephone from Sanaa.

Army troops seized three outposts in Jaria, Harban and Malhat, isolating the insurgents in Jumeima in Maran's rugged mountains, the sources said. "The troops are one kilometre from Jumeima," one source said.

Mr Huthi, a member of the Zaidi community, is wanted by the authorities for allegedly seeking to foment sectarian strife. The Zaidis are a moderate Shiia Muslim sect dominant in north-western Yemen but in the minority in the mainly Sunni country.

Army and police forces deployed reinforcements around the stronghold of the self-styled "Emir al-Mumineen", or Prince of Believers, after the failure on June 28 of a mediation bid by authorities aimed at securing his surrender. In remarks published on Sunday, President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on Mr Huthi to turn himself in, promising him a fair trial. -AFP