Sanaa, Yemen - Yemeni rebel leader, Abdel-Malik al-Huthi, denied Tuesday in an audiotape purported to be from him, that he was hurt in clashes between his loyalists and government troops in his stronghold in the northern province of Saada.

In the audiotape posted online, al-Huthi dismissed as "rumours" reports that he had been hurt during weeks of heavy fighting.

The rebel leader said none of his field commanders were hurt.

Government troops have stamped out all rebel hideouts in the Bani Hashish area, a source at the Ministry of Defence said Tuesday.

But al-Huthi said government forces had failed to achieve any objectives since the outbreak of fighting.

The latest outbreak of fighting in the mountainous province of Saada had erupted in April after a lull in hostilities ensuing a ceasefire agreement brokered by Qatar in June.

The government launched a major offensive to crush al-Huthi's rebel group and the Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh vowed to impose law and order in the province after a bomb blast outside a mosque killed 15 people dead there on May 2.

Al-Huthi's rebels are members of the Zaydi sect of Shiite Islam dominant in the northern area near the Saudi border. Yemen is a predominantly Sunni Muslim country.

The government says the group preaches against the US and Israel in mosques while the rebels accuse the state of religious oppression. (dpa)