SANAA, July 10: Yemeni troops killed 25 rebels from the Zaidi minority in new clashes in the far north, the defence ministry said on Saturday, while witnesses said four soldiers also died.

Some 50 armed supporters of rebel preacher Hussein Badr Eddin al Huthi were also wounded when they attacked a military position north of the town of Saada with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) on Friday.

Military sources said one soldier was killed and five wounded, but witnesses put the toll at four dead and four wounded.

Dozens of the preacher's supporters were also captured in assaults on rebel positions in Al Shafa and Al Ruzmut, and on the village of Al Hamzat, northeast of Saada.

Witnesses said the army had met fierce resistance.

Nearly 200 people have now been killed in the clashes which broke out on June 18.

The army has been steadily closing in on Huthi's strongholds in the rugged Maran district close to the Saudi border.

The authorities have offered a 10 million rial (55,000 dollars) reward for information leading to the capture of the preacher, whom they accuse of seeking to foment sectarian strife.

The Zaidis are a moderate Shia sect dominant in northwestern Yemen.

Troops and police stepped up their offensive against the self-styled "Emir al Mumineen" after the abandonment of a mediation effort by MPs and other dignitaries on June 28.

Earlier this week, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has accused foreign elements of supporting Huthi's uprising, called on the preacher to turn himself in, promising him a fair trial.-AFP