RIYADH/SANAA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Saudi air force and artillery pounded Yemeni rebel hideouts to push the rebels away from its southwestern border and stop the war spilling into its territory, a Saudi security source said on Monday.
The source said Saudi forces also detained scores of rebels during the military operation in the strategic Jabal Dukhan border area on Sunday.
Saudi Arabia launched its assault on neighbouring Yemen's Shi'ite Muslim rebels -- known as the Houthis -- earlier this month after rebels staged a cross-border incursion that killed two Saudi border guards.
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, fears the growing instability in neighbouring Yemen could turn into a major security threat for the kingdom by allowing al Qaeda to gain a stronger foothold in the impoverished country. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz on Monday was quoted as saying that a link between al Qaeda and the rebels was possible.
"It cannot be ruled out that there are contacts or coordination between them," Nayef said, according to the Saudi-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
Saudi media carry frequent reports of an al Qaeda presence among the Houthis and echo Sanaa's claim that Iran backs the rebels.
The Houthis belong to the minority Zaidi sect of Shi'ism, and complain of social, economic and religious marginalisation by Sanaa, but both the rebels and the Yemeni government deny their aims are sectarian.
Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally which sees itself as the guardian of Sunni Islam, has been at odds with Shi'ite Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
The rebels said on Sunday they had thwarted an attempt by the Saudi military to enter Yemen by land, inflicting "heavy losses" and forcing them to abandon a number of vehicles and weapons, according to a statement on their website.
(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa and Ulf Laessing in Riyadh, Writing by Raissa Kasolowsky in Dubai; editing by Samia Nakhoul) ((raissa.kasolowsky@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: raissa.kasolowsky.reuters.com@reuters.net; +971 4 391 8301))
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