Four rebels have been killed in clashes with security forces inside a mosque in northern Yemen, the government says. Security officials said the clashes, which erupted as Friday prayers started in the Grand Mosque of Harf Sufiyan, northwest of Sanaa, killed four supporters of slain cleric Hussein Badr Eddin al-Hawthi, and wounded another three.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the clashes began when al-Hawthi loyalists attacked police in the mosque, in the province of Amran, about 40km northwest of the capital Sanaa. And Abdullah Mohsin Dhabaan, a member of the Amran city council, accused the worshippers starting a gun battle with policemen guarding the mosque. "A group of al-Hawthi's loyalists tried to take over the mosque by shooting the police, which forced the policemen to return fire," Dhabaan said.