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Yemeni planes bomb northern province for 2nd day

SAN'A, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni warplanes bombed a northern province bordering Saudi Arabia for a second straight day Thursday as a protracted conflict with Shiite rebels threatened to turn into an all-out war at a time when the U.S. ally is already facing a resurgent al-Qaeda.
Local provincial officials in Saada province said "scores" have been killed in recent days and hundreds had fled their homes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The reports could not be verified as the Yemeni government has barred journalists from entering the province.
Saada province has been the scene of a five-year rebellion by a Shiite minority, but this latest round of fighting has worried Yemen's neighbor, Saudi Arabia, which fears the unrest could threaten its own security as well as the rest of the Gulf. The fighting adds to Yemen's host of problems that include the al-Qaeda threat, a separate uprising in the south and an economic downturn from plunging oil prices.
The Shiite rebels complain the government in the Sunni-majority country has neglected them and has allowed ultraconservative Sunni extremists too strong of a voice in the country. Hardline Sunnis, who consider Shiites heretics, gained influence after helping the Yemeni government win the 1994 civil war with the secessionist south.
A commentary this week in Asharq Al-Awsat, a London-based newspaper owned by the Saudi royal family, warned that the renewed violence in northern Yemen threatens the security of Saudi Arabia and all other Gulf countries.
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Saudi Arabia and Yemen have accused Iran of supporting the rebellion, and Yemen has tried to portray the rebels as a fundamentalist religious group. Saudi Arabia is also worried the fighting may spark unrest among its own Shiite population just across the border.
Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are also concerned that a weakened Yemen may be allowing al-Qaeda to gain a bigger foothold in the Arabian peninsula's poorest country.
The rebels, who are part of the Zaydi sect of Shiism, counter that the government receives weapons and backing from Saudi Arabia. Zaydism is a branch of Shiism more closely allied with Sunnism in Yemen than the Shiism found in Iran and Lebanon.
Under a cease-fire that went into effect last year, the government was to free rebel detainees, pay compensation and help rebuild ravaged villages. In exchange, the rebels were to turn over their weapons and expel the key rebel leader, a move the rebel leader has refused.
Tensions began mounting earlier this year with repeated clashes between the army and rebels and both sides accusing the other of violating the terms of the cease-fire.
The government offensive in the Saada province started Tuesday, after rebels claimed they had wrested more control of the region from government troops. Authorities in turn promised to crush the Shiite rebel uprising "with an iron-fist."
The rebels and local officials claimed that military planes bombed several Saada towns and rebel positions in sorties overnight and into early Thursday.
An air strike Wednesday hit a marketplace in the provincial town of Haydan, killing several civilians, according to rebels and local officials.
Rebel leader Abdel Malik al-Hawthi described the attack as "a mass carnage" and appealed to Yemen's political parties to condemn the government, according to a statement on the rebels' website. It showed gruesome photos of victims allegedly killed in the bombardment.
On Wednesday, a local government official said 20 rebels were killed. A local Health Ministry official said 12 others died in fighting across Saada and 51 were injured. Aid groups said hundreds of others fled the clashes.
The officials in Saada all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, and the reports could not be independently verified.
The government late Wednesday imposed a state of emergency in Saada province, with a nightly curfew in Saada and other nearby towns.
A government committee also set several conditions on the rebels to halt the offensive, including leaving their positions, disarming and handing over soldiers and civilians captured in the fighting.
A spokesman for the rebels say they've rejected the government terms for cease-fire, saying the deal would not solve the Saada situation and accusing the government of "lies."