Sana'a, Yemen  -  At least two army troops were killed and eight wounded in fighting with Shiite rebels in the restive north- western Yemeni province of Saada, local sources said on Tuesday.

The sources said the fighting broke out overnight Monday in the district of Haidan, where armed members of the outlawed "Believing Youth" Shiite group hold sway of strategic mountainous locations near the border with Saudi Arabia.

They said two pro-government tribesmen were also injured in the fighting. Details on casualties among the rebels were not available.

Heavy fighting renewed on Friday, one day after authorities said a Qatari mediation team had resumed efforts to follow up on the implementation of a Qatari-brokered ceasefire deal.

Tens of thousands of army troops were deployed in Saada to crush a revolt that originally began after Shiite cleric Hussein al-Houthi, the elder brother of the current leader of the group Abdul-Malik al- Houthi, established the movement in March 2004. Hussein was killed by the army in September the same year.

Waves of violent clashes since mid-2004 have left hundreds of government troops and rebels dead, and displaced thousands of civilians from Saada.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has repeatedly accused the Houthis of trying to topple the republican regime and re-establish the rule of the Zaidi Imamate, a royal regime that was overthrown by a revolution in 1962.

Followers of al-Houthi belong mostly to the Zaidi sect of Islam, which is regarded as a moderate sect. (dpa)