Saudi air force hits Yemen rebels after border raid

Reuters/ here

" ... Saudi Arabia has launched heavy air strikes on rebels in northern Yemen and is moving troops nearer the border after a raid into its territory by the Shi'ite insurgents, a Saudi government adviser said Thursday.

Saudi government officials said only that the air force had bombed Yemeni rebels who had seized a border area inside the kingdom, which they said had now been recaptured. The officials said at least 40 rebels had been killed in the fighting.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has become increasingly anxious about instability and militancy in Yemen, which is also facing separatist sentiment in the south and a growing threat from resurgent al Qaeda fighters....

Al Jazeera television quoted a rebel spokesman as saying the Saudi air force had raided six locations inside Yemen. One position had been hit by about 100 missiles in one hour.....

The Saudi government adviser said no decision had yet been taken to send troops across the border, but made clear Riyadh was no longer prepared to tolerate the Yemeni rebels......Saudi Arabia and the United States fear the conflict in Yemen's north and a separatist movement in the south will loosen already tenuous government control and empower al Qaeda...."