Saudi Arabia’s assistant defense minister says his forces have taken control of a mountain straddling the border with Yemen and cleared it of Shia soldiers.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s assistant defense minister says his forces have taken control of a mountain straddling the border with Yemen and cleared it of Shia soldiers.

Prince Khaled bin Sultan is quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency as saying his troops are still dealing with Houthi infiltrators in other spots along the frontier but that his forces have not entered northern Yemen.

Bin Sultan said Sunday after visiting the border that the Saudi side of Dokhan Mountain had been cleared of Houthis. Saudi Arabia has for five days bombarded Shias, even as Yemen president has vowed to quash an insurrection pitting his weak central government against innocent Shias in the north.

In another news Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared that the government will step up military attacks on the positions of Houthi Shias.

In a speech on Saturday, Saleh said there will be no reconciliation or truce until the military uproots Shia Houthis from the northern Sadaa province.

“The war just started two days ago, and what has been happening in the past six years was just … training for the army units,” he said.

“The war will never stop no matter how much money or martyrs it costs,” AP quoted Saleh as saying.

The conflict between Houthi Shais and the Yemeni government began in 2004, but intensified last August when government forces stepped up the pressure against the fighters.

Houthi Shias say they have been defending their people against the Yemeni government that has marginalized them economically and politically.