The fighters said on Friday that the raids targeted a large number of houses and infrastructures in the tribal areas of Razeh, Jabal el-Romaih and Malaheez. They also added the members of four families were killed during the Saudi overnight airstrikes.

A spokesman for Houthis, Mohamed Abdel-Salam also said the Saudi security forces continued to shell the province of Saada too. He said the Saudi air attacks did not stop at all.

Last week the fighters also accused Saudi Arabia of killing 70 civilians in an airstrike on the border area between the two countries.

The conflict between the central government in Sana'a and the Houthis of northern Yemen began in 2004. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth, alleging that the Houthi fighters had violated the terms of a ceasefire by taking foreign visitors hostage.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa'ada and take refuge in overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.

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