Sana'a, Yemen  - Yemen has set out six conditions for halting its massive military operation against Shiite rebels in the north- western province of Saada, state media reported Thursday.

The conditions included the rebels' withdrawal from all districts of Saada and mountainous sites and giving up military hardware they have seized from the army, the official Saba news agency said.

It said the conditions were announced by the country's Supreme Security Committee, headed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Also among the conditions was a call for the rebels to clarify the fate of a German family of five and a British engineer taken hostage in Saada in June.

The committee said authorities would stop the military offensive against the rebels and release all detainees seized on suspicion of having links to the rebel group if the rebels complied with the conditions set for peace.

On Wednesday, authorities imposed a state of emergency in the volatile district. The army began its offensive against the rebels on Tuesday.

At least 19 insurgents and civilians were killed Wednesday after the army bombarded strongholds of the Houthi rebel group on the border with Saudi Arabia, rebels and residents said. Scores of people were injured.

The offensive included aerial, artillery and missile strikes on the strategic heights of Matra and Dhahian, the two main strongholds of the rebels on the border with Saudi Arabia.

The Supreme Security Committee said in a statement that the assault was "the last option after the rebels rejected the call of peace made by the government."

The committee, which includes the ministers of interior and defence as well as the top army commanders, said the government ordered the army to launch the attack "to protect the citizens in line with its constitutional responsibility."

It vowed to "strike them (the rebels) with an iron fist until they give themselves up to justice."

Tensions have been rising between the Houthis, and the army in Saada since last July when President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared the conflict over.

Five waves of fierce fighting between the rebels and the military have left hundreds of soldiers and insurgents dead since 2004.

Authorities have accused the rebels of trying to reinstall the rule of imams, toppled by a republican revolution in northern Yemen in 1962.

The Houthis belong to the Zaidi sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. (dpa)