SANAA, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Shi'ite rebels have kidnapped 15 local aid workers and government forces and rebels clashed on Friday in northern Yemen, as days of fighting continued, a government official said.
Followers of rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi took Red Crescent doctors, nurses, officials and administrators from a refugee camp on Thursday, said Hassan al-Manna, governor of Saada province.
The rebels have displaced around 17,000 families from their homes in the mountainous northern province of Saada over the past four days, Manna said, according to the Yemeni Defence Ministry website.
Yemen on Thursday issued the rebels with the terms of a ceasefire to end a government offensive against them in the north of the mainly Sunni Muslim Arab country.
The rebels rejected the truce offer and denied holding any kidnapped civilians.
Officials say the rebels want to restore a form of clerical rule prevalent in Yemen until the 1960s. The rebels say they are defending their villages against government oppression.
The government ceasefire conditions included a rebel withdrawal, the removal of their checkpoints and the clarification of the fate of kidnapped foreigners.
They also required rebels to return captured military and civilian equipment, hand over those behind the June kidnapping of nine foreigners and refrain from intervening in local authority affairs.
Fighting between Yemeni troops backed by fighter aircraft and Shi'ite rebels killed and wounded dozens in the north of the country, local officials and rebels said on Wednesday.
As well as its battles with the Shi'ite rebellion, Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries, faces rising secessionist sentiment in the south and a wave of al Qaeda attacks.
Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen named a new leader this year and said it would expand the scope of its attacks to all Gulf Arab states, including top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
In July 2008, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah said four years of intermittent fighting against the rebels had ended and dialogue should replace combat. Despite attempts to start talks, sporadic fighting continued and has intensified in recent weeks.
The rebels belong to the Shi'ite Zaydi sect and want Zaydi schools in their area. They also oppose the government's alliance with the United States, and say they are defending their villages against government oppression. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Jason Benham; Editing by Jon Boyle)
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