Yemen claims 44 rebel deaths

Yemeni warplanes killed at least 44 Shiite rebels in a series of air strikes near the Saudi border, a senior government official said yesterday. The insurgents, however, claim the dead were civilians.

Deputy Interior Minister Mohammed Abdelallah al-Qawsi said 27 of the rebels were killed by a strike on a rebel hideout in an abandoned hospital in the small town of Razeh. But the rebels said the hospital was still functional and those killed inside were civilians.